


Blood Rain

by LulaLuna



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Character Turned Into Vampire, Death, Gen, Half-Vampire Yeosang, Half-Vampires, Human/Vampire Relationship, Investigations, M/M, Murder, Unrequited Love, Vampire Jongho, Vampire San, Vampire Wooyoung, Vampires, vampire Seonghwa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:02:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 82,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21564214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaLuna/pseuds/LulaLuna
Summary: Half-vampire investigator Yeosang is assigned a new case in which people are being murdered in gruesome ways at alarming rates. Problem is, his assigned partner is his old partner from back in the day that he hasn't talked to in years...ever since that fateful day.Yeosang never blamed Seonghwa for not being able to stop him from turning. Seonghwa, on the other hand, only ever wanted to protect Yeosang from his world but failed...
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Jeong Yunho, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kang Yeosang/Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong/Song Mingi
Comments: 76
Kudos: 247





	1. Prologue: What Remains

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a SeongSang vampire AU so here it is lol. It's unbetaed so lemme know if there's any mistakes I can fix.

_5 years earlier..._

_"Yeosang, no...", Seonghwa says quietly, holding the barely conscious boy in his arms. The older scans Yeosang's body. A large gash in his shoulder blade stands out and Seonghwa's head starts spinning._

_"Stay with me", Seonghwa says as Yeosang's eyes start closing. Seonghwa hangs his head and tears start falling out of his eyes._

_"Stay."_

_That's the last thing Yeosang hears before his vision goes black._

Yeosang feels a tap on his shoulder and opens his eyes to see he's in an office. His work office. 

"Kang, you've got to stop sleeping on the job", the one who tapped his shoulder, the Chief's secretary, Mingi, says.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me", Yeosang says, sitting up.

"I thought vampires didn't sleep", Yeosang hears someone above him say. He looks up to see someone peering over the top of his cubicle.

"I'm not a vampire, Yunho", Yeosang says.

"The human half needs sleep I'd assume", Mingi says quietly to himself as his co-workers argue.

"I forgot you didn't like being called that…", Yunho says, moving away from the other's cubicle.

"Who likes being called that?!", Yeosang asks, slightly louder than his normal tone.

Mingi snaps and turns the half-vampire's attention back to him. "Calm down, Kang", the secretary says, "Chief wants to see you about a new case."

Yeosang sighs, looks back at Yunho, then nods. "I'm sorry for raising my voice, Yunho", Yeosang says.

It was rare for Yeosang to raise his voice, as he usually prefers to stay in a monotone.

Mingi beckons him out of his chair and motions for him to follow. Yeosang quietly follows the secretary to the Chief's office. It had been a while since he got a case, which is strange since he was one of only 3 vampire agents the Bureau had. 

As the two of them move closer to the back of the floor, Mingi sighs. Yeosang just quietly observes the secretary and wonders what is going through his mind. He's so occupied, he doesn't even notice when they reach the Chief's door.

Mingi knocks and says, "Chief, I'm here with Kang."

Mingi then opens the door to reveal the Chief, Hongjoong, typing away at his desk.

"Come in", Hongjoong says, not even looking up from the computer.

"We're already in, sir", Mingi says, leading Yeosang over to the desk.

Hongjoong finally looks up from the screen to see Yeosang and Mingi already at his desk. "My apologies", the Chief says.

Hongjoong's eyes lock with Yeosang's, who tries to avoid the Chief's gaze.

"Mingi, would you mind leaving us for a few minutes while I discuss the case at hand", Hongjoong asks his secretary.

Mingi nods and bows before heading towards the door. He pulls the handle, opens the door, and quickly slips out. Hongjoong then turns his attention to the agent in front of him.

"Yeosang, look at me", he says.

Yeosang then looks at the Chief's face but tries to avoid making eye contact. He sits down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Long time, no case, huh?", Hongjoong says.

"I was starting to wonder what the hold up was."

Hongjoong deadpan laughs and says, "We've not had many vampire related cases recently."

"I figured."

"But one has come up so now we need you out on the field again."

"What's the case?"

Hongjoong pulls a file from under a stack of papers and hands it to Yeosang.

"A recent string of murders, their faces were carved open and no blood was left in their bodies, so we obviously suspect it was a vampire", the Chief explains.

Yeosang's eyes widen as he looks through the case file. Pictures of body after body where the skin is completely grayed out and pale, blood everywhere except on the bodies themselves, and faces completely disfigured or even missing on some.

"Gruesome, right?", Hongjoong asks. Yeosang nods.

"Who would do this?", Yeosang asks.

"That's what we want you to find out."

"Of course."

Yeosang closes the file and lays it on his lap. "I will bring whoever did this to justice", he says in his usual monotone.

Yeosang stands up out of the chair but he's stopped by a motion of Hongjoong's hand.

"Not so fast, Yeosang", Hongjoong says, motioning for the agent to sit back down. Yeosang does so, confused.

"I've assigned you a partner for this case", Hongjoong says.

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at that. It had been almost a year since he had a partner for a case.

"Is that necessary?", Yeosang asks.

"It's a big case, I can't let you do this alone", Hongjoong says, "which is why I'm also assigning Seonghwa to this case as your partner."

Yeosang's blood goes cold at those words. Seonghwa. The man he had spent the last 5 years avoiding.

"S...Seonghwa?", Yeosang says, shakily.

Hongjoong nods. The Chief knew of Yeosang's history with Seonghwa. He knew they used to be partners before Yeosang was turned into a hybrid. He knew the tension that was held between the two.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir", Yeosang says.

"I have no choice, Yeosang", Hongjoong says, "I need vampires on this case. It's either I send you two onto the field or I send Jongho."

"Jongho is just a kid!", Yeosang says, raising his voice for the second time that day.

Jongho was the Bureau's newest vampire agent, pulled off the streets after he had been turned by his parents' killers. There was no way Yeosang was going to allow a freshly turned vampire out on the streets where he could be killed.

"Then I see the answer here is clear-cut", Hongjoong says, "I suggest you try to work things out between yourself and Seonghwa because you will be spending a lot of time together."

Yeosang still feels dreadful as he walks out of the Chief's office and goes back to his cubicle. He plops down onto his chair and buries his head in his arms. He couldn't believe this was happening. It had been 5 years since he had talked to, let alone worked with, Park Seonghwa.

_"Stay."_

He closes his eyes and he's met with images of Seonghwa. Everything from his bright smile and beautiful brown eyes to his blood stained scowl and glowing red eyes. Yeosang tries to push the thoughts out of his head. Seonghwa wasn't the same guy he fell for all those years ago. The Seonghwa he knows now never smiles, any semblance of humanity hidden behind sickly pale skin.

_"Stay."_

Yeosang sees flashes of the night he found out Seonghwa was a vampire...and subsequently became one himself.

_"You're so pretty", the mysterious vampire in his memories says as Yeosang just stands there, under the vampire's trance._

Yeosang's eyes shoot open and he sits up straight in his chair before looking around. He sees only his co-workers going about their usual jobs. He stands up and makes his way towards the bathroom. As he stands in front of the sink, he lets the water run. Yeosang runs his hands under the water and cups some of it in his hands. He quickly splashes some water on his face.

_"You can't save him now", the vampire says, "he's already one of us."_

_Yeosang lays, barely alive, as the vampire disappears. Seonghwa quickly rushes over to Yeosang's barely conscious body._

_"Yeosang…", the blonde says._

Yeosang splashes even more water on his face, trying to get the thoughts out of his mind. He could feel his emotions starting to boil at that point. He grips the sides of the sink tightly.

_"All I ever wanted was you", Seonghwa says, packing up his desk, "All I wanted was for you to stay."_

Yeosang's anger boils at that point and he can't control himself anymore. 

"I had no choice!", he screams in a dark tone.

He moves his right fist up and pulls it back before smashing it into the mirror in front of him. The glass shatters and the pieces scatter in all directions. Some of the pieces cut into Yeosang's fist but he can't bring himself to care at the moment.

Yeosang breathes heavily in anger as the pieces hit the floor and the noises stop. Only a small part of the left side of the mirror remains intact. 

He looks over the broken mirror and sees his own pale skin in the unbroken part. His reflection was very faded. Vampires don't have reflections at all but being half-human, Yeosang still is able to see himself on reflective surfaces, albeit barely. His eyes lock with his reflection's and his eyes widen. His left eye is glowing a bright red, in contrast to his soft brown right eye. His face contorts in horror at his reflection, seeing the exact face he never wanted to see again. Yeosang talks big and is confident in his vampire abilities, but he hates seeing what he's become, and he hates letting it get the best of him.

He quickly backs away from the mirror and slides down the wall next to it. He closes his eyes in pain.

_"I love you", Seonghwa says, "and I always will."_

_With those words, Seonghwa picks up his box of belongings and walks out of the office, not to be seen again for the next 4 years._

Yeosang quietly sighs. He never asked for any of it. He never asked to become an undead bloodsucker, he never asked to live his life hunting his own kind, and he certainly never asked for Seonghwa to leave him. 

"This is a second chance", Yeosang quickly says to himself. 

Yeosang picks himself up and looks at the mess he's made. He runs his hands under the still-running water to clean up the blood on his fist.

And with that, he walks out of the bathroom, refilled with resolve to finish this case as soon as possible.


	2. You're Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang decides to pay his old partner a visit.

_Yeosang smiles as he's promoted to an official agent, finally finished with his training. He looks down from the stage to his best friend Seonghwa, who was promoted the month prior. Seonghwa looks on the brink of tears as he watches proudly._

_Yeosang accepts his new badge and certificate and bows to the senior agent. He can't help but smile throughout the rest of the ceremony as well._

_After the ceremony, he ran outside to greet his mom, who expressed how proud she was of her son. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Seonghwa waiting for him. Yeosang's mother looks over at the blonde and then back at her son, encouraging him to go and be with his friend._

_"He's probably almost as proud as I am", she says with a soft smile._

_Yeosang embraces her and then heads over to where his best friend was standing. Seonghwa smiles as Yeosang approaches and the second he stands in front of him, he pulls the younger into a tight hug._

_"I'm so proud of you", Seonghwa whispers into Yeosang's ear._

_Yeosang's smile widens from his words and he embraces the older even tighter. Seonghwa offers to take Yeosang out for celebratory ice cream, to which he accepts. He runs over to his mom and tells him the plan._

_His mom chuckles and says, "You're an adult now, Yeosang, you don't need to tell old me all your plans anymore."_

_Yeosang quickly gives her another hug before heading to Seonghwa's car. The two buckle in and Seonghwa drives off towards the local ice cream shop._

_When they get there, Seonghwa turns to the recent graduate and says, "Get whatever your little heart desires."_

_Yeosang smiles even wider as he orders a double scoop of chocolate._

_"It's your turn", Yeosang says._

_"Oh...I'm not going to eat anything", Seonghwa says._

_Yeosang shrugs and starts ordering some toppings. Seonghwa admires how the brunette's eyes light up as he asks for sprinkles and white chocolate shavings. They get up to the front of the line and Seonghwa pulls out his wallet to pay._

_Yeosang tries to lead Seonghwa to sit outside but Seonghwa kindly please that they just sit inside for the time being._

_"You paid so who am I to complain?", Yeosang says, jokingly._

_Seonghwa chuckles and the two find a table in the corner of the shop. Yeosang indulges in his frozen treat as the two talk about what kind of cases they think they'll be working now that they're agents._

_"Do you think we'll have to work on vampire killings and such?", Yeosang asks._

_"Who knows, Yeosang, who knows?", Seonghwa responds._

_As Yeosang finishes up, he throws his trash away and the two head back to the car. Seonghwa opens the door for the younger and says, "my lady" in a joking manner, causing Yeosang to burst out laughing._

_"You're ridiculous", Yeosang says, sticking his tongue out as he gets into the car._

_Seonghwa goes back around the other side and opens his own door before saying, "Yes, but I'm your ridiculous."_

_He sticks the keys into the ignition and makes sure they're both buckled before driving in the direction of Yeosang's house. Seonghwa lets the radio play quietly in the background as he looks around at the scenery through the rolled down windows while also keeping his eyes on the road. It's a peculiar time of year, not too hot, not too cold, and the days seem shorter._

Hongjoong insisted that they start working on the case right away. This gives Yeosang no time at all to even consider talking to Seonghwa about the case, let alone at all. But it's his job, his duty as an investigator and agent to find out the truth, and to find the truth, he needs Seonghwa.

It had been the first time he thought that in a while. He needs Seonghwa. Yeosang hangs his head and sighs. 

He stands up from his cubicle and picks up his jacket. He makes his way to the door, making sure to tell Yunho, "I'm going on late lunch."

Yunho then quickly responds, "You don't even eat."

Yeosang just ignores the retort and walks out of the building. His feet seem to carry themselves in the direction that was familiar to him 5 years ago. He was going to Seonghwa's apartment.

He didn't even know if Seonghwa still lived there, and he didn't even know what to say if Seonghwa was there. But he needed Seonghwa for the case, and the only way they were going to work together is if they can talk.

Yeosang walks as far away from the sun as he could, heading toward the apartment complex he had been to so many times in the past. He nears the building and starts walking towards the familiar brick stairs. He takes it 2 flights up to the 3rd floor, and to the room he has memorized like the back of his hand.

It takes a lot of courage to Yeosang to knock on the door, and he has to take a few breathers before he can even bring himself to even consider it. But eventually, he tells himself that he has to, for the sake of the case.

He knocks softly 3 times and steps back, waiting to see if anyone answers. He swears he hears movement inside as the door opens, not even a few seconds later.

There stands Seonghwa, who he hasn't seen up close in almost 5 years. Yeosang scans over his body in awe.

The first thing that Yeosang notices is that the blonde hair that he had known Seonghwa to have for the entire time he knew him is now a dark shade of brown. The next thing he notices is his face, the fact that he hasn't aged in the slightest due to his vampire status. His skin looks paler than the time he knew him, which is strange since he's always been a vampire. He looks just as handsome and as beautiful as ever, if only a bit more tired as he notices slight bags under his eyes. He also notices that for a big, scary vampire like Seonghwa, the pajamas he was currently sporting certainly did not give off that aura. It's for the first time in a while that Yeosang realized something: he misses Seonghwa.

Seonghwa's eyes widen as he realizes who was knocking at his door. "Yeosang", Seonghwa says.

The younger stays silent, only able to stare at his former partner and lover.

"What are you doing here?", Seonghwa asks.

"I…", Yeosang starts. He didn't really have a plan here, he just wanted to talk. He felt compelled to come, whether it be under Hongjoong's suggestion or something inside of him telling him to come see Seonghwa.

"Would you like to come in?", Seonghwa asks. He opens the door wider and moves back, allowing Yeosang easy access into his apartment.

Yeosang quickly darts his eyes across the room, looking for any sign that something is wrong. He hated that his animalistic instinct always kicked in when there was no reason for them to.

"Is something the matter?", Seonghwa asks.

Yeosang blinks. "No", he says, "nothing at all."

He quickly makes his way inside the door and into the foyer of the apartment. It was dark, the only light being provided by a small lamp in the living room. Something about the place was eerie but strangely homey. 

"Make yourself at home", Seonghwa says, turning the light in the living room on so that Yeosang can see, sensing the other one's thoughts.

Yeosang looks over at Seonghwa, memories, good and bad, flooding back to him.

"So…", Seonghwa says, going to sit on a chair in the living room, "How can I help you?"

Yeosang throws his coat on the small chair and takes a seat on the bigger couch. He can't seem to muster any words, only able to stare at Seonghwa in wonder.

"If you wanted to stare, you could just do that from the office", Seonghwa says.

Yeosang blinks and snaps himself out of it. "I'm sorry", he mutters.

"Just tell me why you're here, Yeosang", Seonghwa says in a monotone, not unlike Yeosang's.

Yeosang is taken aback by it, though. He had only ever known Seonghwa to have a cheerful and bright tone to his voice, never one to let the upbeat energy drop. The voice that came out of Seonghwa however, sounded...dead.

"I...uh...I wanted to talk to you", Yeosang says, recovering himself.

Seonghwa sighs. "I see", he says, "And what about?"

"Just...the case."

 _About us,_ is what Yeosang wanted to say but he could get that out. Seonghwa almost looked disappointed at his answer.

"Oh…", is all Seonghwa says.

"Chief says we should put aside our differences aside in order to be able to effectively work together", Yeosang says.

"Our differences?"

"We have to be able to put aside any animosity between us for the good of the case."

"I don't…"

Yeosang looks up at the older vampire, who's currently fiddling with his lamp.

"I don't hold any animosity", Seonghwa gets out.

"You don't?", Yeosang asks, surprised.

"No."

"I...I don't either."

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "You...You don't?", he sputters out.

Yeosang shakes his head. "I don't", Yeosang says, "Only that I lost you."

Yeosang slaps his hand over his mouth at the last part. He didn't mean to let it slip out but it came out in the moment.

"Seonghwa, I didn't mean to-", Yeosang starts but he's interrupted by Seonghwa.

"It's fine", the older says.

Yeosang falls silent. Seonghwa looks him in the eyes for the first time since they sat down.

"So you...don't hate me?", Seonghwa asks.

"Not in the slightest", Yeosang says, "besides you leaving, I guess."

Yeosang figured he had already gotten out his true feelings so he might as well say what's on his mind.

"I thought you hated me", Seonghwa says, "for turning you into…"

Yeosang clasps his hands together. "You didn't turn me into anything."

"I couldn't protect you. I couldn't stop this from happening. I turned you into this."

"I never blamed you. I don't blame you now."

"That's…"

"Where did you go for so long? You disappeared for 4 years then randomly appear back at the Bureau like that. Where did you go?"

"I...can't tell you. I'm sorry."

Seonghwa gives Yeosang an apologetic look.

"Why not?", Yeosang says.

"There's just some things I can't tell anyone, not even you."

The room falls silent. Yeosang walks over to where Seonghwa is sitting and offers his hand out to him.

"If you can't offer answers, at least I can offer a truce. Until this case is solved, we have to be able to work together, talk things out, and communicate. We have to trust each other."

Seonghwa looks at Yeosang's outstretched hand. He then looks up at Yeosang's face, which bore a serious expression. The vampire takes the hand and shakes it. It was the first form of physical contact the two had in years. Seonghwa swore he felt something spark in Yeosang's eyes and his own.

Seonghwa stands up and pulls the younger's hand, bringing Yeosang closer to him. He gets close enough to whisper in his ear. "Rather than me trusting you, I think the bigger question is do you trust me?", he says.

The vampire brings his mouth down to Yeosang's neck. He notices that the hybrid doesn't flinch until he feels fangs scrape against his neck. Yeosang takes a step back and sees the current state of Seonghwa's face. His eyes are both bright red and his canines are sharp enough to pierce skin.

"Do you trust me like this?", Seonghwa asks.

Yeosang doesn't know how to respond. He had only ever seen Seonghwa's vampire form once, that day when he found out that his partner was a bloodsucker. It starts to flood back memories of that day. Seonghwa then retracts his fangs and his eyes turn back to brown, bringing Yeosang back to reality.

"Trust?", Seonghwa asks.

He can barely trust himself in his vampire state, let alone others. But he barely has a choice at this point.

"I have to trust you", Yeosang says, "to find out the truth behind this case."

Seonghwa nods. Yeosang catches a glimpse of the clock on the wall and sees that his lunch break is almost up.

"I have to get going back to work", Yeosang says.

"Oh…", Seonghwa says.

"I'll see you later", Yeosang says, heading for the door, "Tomorrow probably, to discuss the case."

"Definitely."

Yeosang opens the door and prepares to step out when he hears, "And...Yeosang."

He turns around to Seonghwa standing a few feet behind him. "I'm glad you came", the older says.

"Yeah", Yeosang says, "me too."

And with that, Yeosang heads out, leaving Seonghwa to his thoughts. The vampire closes the door to his apartment.

Seonghwa sighs to himself. There were so many things left unsaid, so many things he wished he could have said if he wasn't so afraid. And that's something he hadn't experienced in years. Fear.

He walks over to the living room and sits back down in his chair, before burying his face in his hands. He looks around the room, noticing something out of place. He walks over to the chair across from him.

"This is…", Seonghwa says, picking up the jacket currently thrown across the back of the chair. His eyes widen in realization. 

"Yeosang", he says quietly before running to put his shoes on. He then sprints out the door to catch up to Yeosang before he got too far away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang didn't realize how late he took his lunch as it was getting dark by the time he was headed back to work. He wanted to get back before the sun completely went down.

He picked up his pace a bit and decided the only way to get there when he wanted to is to take a shortcut. Therefore, he opted for a shortcut through the alleys.

He quickly maneuvered his way through the dark and mostly smelly alleyways. It was already pretty dark and the bloodsuckers would be coming out soon. He was not in the mood to get into a territory war for the 3rd week in a row.

Yeosang stops in his tracks as he realizes something. He gets the sinking feeling that he's being followed. He turns around when he hears the crunching of Autumn leaves. A young man stands there, as if he was waiting for him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?", the man says, "A lonely vampire, wandering the streets he doesn't belong to."

Yeosang looks around to make sure the man was talking to him. He finds nothing but himself and his shadow.

"You're a peculiar one", the man says.

Yeosang looks over the man's attire. He wears a thick vest and pants with many pockets, and also sports a fancy tool belt. He then realizes what this man is. He's a vampire hunter.

"I'm not a vampire", Yeosang says quietly, but just loud enough for the hunter to hear.

"That's what they all say", the hunter says. Yeosang watches as he pulls something out of his pocket and barely has enough time to react before he's being splashed with holy water.

It burns, badly. Yeosang stumbles backward and eventually falls to the ground, writhing in pain. He closes his eyes and his fangs instinctively come out, showing the hunter exactly what he thought.

"And as usual, I'm right", the hunter says as Yeosang opens his eyes to reveal his singular glowing red eye.

The fact that only one of his eyes is glowing red seems to confuse the hunter long enough for Yeosang to get back into his feet.

"I don't know what you are", the hunter says, "but you're definitely an enemy."

Yeosang sees the hunter pull out a sharp wooden stake from his belt, causing the hybrid to panic a bit.

"I've got you now."

Yeosang tries to move back but the hunter sprints towards him, giving him no time to run away. The hunter lifts the arm with the stake and aims to stab Yeosang in the heart. However, his vampire instincts kick in just in time to be able to block the arm trying to stab him. He tries to push him back but he's weak. He hasn't fed in weeks.

The hunter's current strength proves to be superior to Yeosang's as he's able to push down on the hybrid's blocking arms. Yeosang tries with all his might to resist but the lack of nourishment is proving too much as the hunter's stake reaches his shoulder blade. Yeosang cries out in pain as the stake goes in further and he puts all his strength into pushing the hunter away but that backfires when he feels the stake push all the way through his shoulder, to the point where he thinks it's coming out the other side.

Yeosang stumbles backwards and he's able to push the hunter off of him, and he falls on his side. He's in so much pain, he can't do anything but cry. _This is where it ends,_ he thinks to himself.

"Your kind doesn't deserve to cry, you don't deserve pity", the hunter says, walking towards him to finish the job.

Yeosang can barely see through his tears. But when he hears a sickly crack, he's able to stop his sobs to see what's going on. A figure he can only see from the back is standing over the lifeless body of the hunter.

Yeosang wants to call out to the mysterious figure but his throat fills with blood. He can't say or do anything. He feels so helpless and trapped.

His mind wanders to a familiar scene, almost parallel to the one he's living. The night he was turned.

"Seonghwa", is all he can get out. The taste of bile and vampire venom floods his mouth and his vision starts to tunnel. He swears he sees the figure turn around and approach him but that's all he can manage before he succumbs to the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip


	3. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang wakes up in an unfamiliar place.

_Yeosang looks over at the driver, admiring the wind blowing through Seonghwa's hair._

_"What are you looking at?", Seonghwa asks, as if sensing the younger's eyes on him._

_Yeosang blushes and immediately looks away. Seonghwa chuckles as Yeosang looks out his own window at the trees surrounding the neighborhood._

_The car pulls into Yeosang's driveway not long after, and Seonghwa parks the car right behind the younger's mom's._

_"We're back", Seonghwa says._

_"Yeah, we are", Yeosang says._

_"So...I've been meaning to ask you something."_

_Yeosang's head turns towards Seonghwa's at his words. Yeosang nods, encouraging the older to keep going._

_"I was wondering…", Seonghwa starts._

_Seonghwa looks down at the steering wheel. Yeosang puts his hand on Seonghwa's shoulder. The blonde's head turns to Yeosang's and he opens his mouth again._

_"I was wondering...if you wanted to go out with me sometimes", Seonghwa says, "Like on a date."_

_Yeosang's mouth hangs agape as Seonghwa says, "I like you, a lot actually."_

_Yeosang blushes. He had a crush on Seonghwa for almost a year now, ever since they began training to be agents together. To hear that Seonghwa felt the same way about him, it made his heart flutter to say the slightest._

_"I…", Yeosang says, "You don't know how long I've wanted to ask you the same thing."_

_Seonghwa's mouth breaks into a smile at Yeosang's words. "I'll take that as a yes then", Seonghwa says._

_"Yes, of course, yes", Yeosang says._

_Seonghwa leans back in his seat and sighs happily._

_"I'm so happy, Yeosang, you know that?", Seonghwa says._

_Yeosang smiles and says, "I'm so happy too, I graduated and now I have a date with the guy I've liked for a year now."_

_"A year?", Seonghwa asks, raising an eyebrow._

_"I'm shy, okay?", Yeosang says, burying his face in his hands._

_Seonghwa reaches up to grab the younger's hands and pull them away from his face. He holds his hands in his._

_"But, you have me now", the blonde says._

_Yeosang looks into Seonghwa's bright eyes, not able to find the right words to say. He wants nothing more than to be close to Seonghwa at that moment._

_"Can I kiss you?", Seonghwa asks. Yeosang blushes even harder. He wasn't expecting that._

_"I...uh…", Yeosang says, "Yes."_

_Seonghwa gives a soft chuckle at Yeosang's flustered expression before leaning in to_ _look him in_ _the eyes. Yeosang's heart starts beating at a million miles a minute and he feels like he's back in high school again, dealing with old crushes._

_All thoughts go out the window as Seonghwa's lips meet his softly, and Yeosang feels more at peace than he had in his entire life. He felt happy. He felt human._

Yeosang's eyes flutter open. He felt euphoric, as if everything bad that has happened was just a bad dream.

But once his vision clears, he's hit with the harsh reality of what's really going on. He sees his friend and co-worker, Yunho, putting gloves on. A sudden sharp pain rushes through his shoulder.

"Fuck...Yunho?", Yeosang asks, "What's going on?"

Yunho puts his finger to Yeosang's lips and shushes him. "Don't make any sudden movements", the tall man says. Yunho pokes at the stake, to which Yeosang's eyes widen immensely and he gives off a blood-curdling cry. Yeosang's mind flashes with images of Seonghwa again.

"Yunho, why does it hurt so bad?", Yeosang asks.

"Uh...because you have a wooden stake in your shoulder?", Yunho says, "And stop moving, I'm trying to get it out."

Yunho takes his gloved hand and reaches to where the sharp wooden piece is lodged in the hybrid's shoulder bone.

"I don't mean that...well, yes, that too, but I meant about Seonghwa", Yeosang says, "It hurts seeing him again after all these years."

"Well, if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be here right now", Yunho says, trying to pull on the stake as gently as possible.

"Wait, what do you mean, if it wasn't for h-", Yeosang starts before being cut off by Yunho pulling on the stake too hard.

Yeosang yells in pain as his left eye turns red and he bares his fangs at Yunho. The taller is unfazed as he swiftly pulls the stake out of his shoulder. 

Yeosang slumps over in the chair and he makes another cry of pain, but it quickly fades, and his eyes and teeth turn back to normal.

"Thank you", Yeosang barely gets out. He's weak. It's been too long since he last fed, and he can tell as his wound was closing was much slower than normal.

He didn't know where he could get blood, especially now when he's weak and most likely unable to hold his own.

"When was the last time you fed?", Yunho asks.

Yeosang's eyes dart to his friend and he raises an eyebrow. When did Yunho learn so much about the vampire world?

"Um...a while ago", Yeosang says, "I don't like drinking blood more than I have to."

"So I can tell", Yunho says. He stands up and walks over to his refrigerator. Yeosang sees him bend down to grab something but doesn't see what it is until Yunho's standing in front of him again, waving it in his face.

"Here", Yunho says, "Take this."

Yunho hands the younger a blood bag. Yeosang's eyes widen at the sight of it.

"Why do you have this?", Yeosang asks.

"Are you going to ask questions or are you going to make sure you don't die from your stab wound?"

Yeosang shakily takes the blood bag from Yunho and opens it. He holds it up to his lips and downs the contents like there's no tomorrow. He hated drinking blood but it tasted like the nectar of the gods to him, and he hated the fact that it tastes so good as well. 

He throws the bag onto the floor when he gets the last drop out and leans back in the chair. He can feel it smeared across his lips but he doesn't care. Not drinking for weeks on end made having a taste feel so much more euphoric.

The wound in his shoulder begins closing up on its own, almost as if a whole chunk of his flesh wasn't completely punctured out by a wooden stake. Yunho watches quietly as for the first time ever, he sees a slight smile appear on Yeosang's face.

"What's the smile for?", Yunho asks, "You don't seem the type to smile."

Yeosang sits back up almost in a flash and retorts, "And you don't seem the type to know how to remove stakes and keep blood in your fridge but here we are."

Yunho seems taken aback by the sudden comment. "Well, damn", he says.

"So anyway, what are you? A vampire?"

Yunho chuckles and says, "Me? A vampire? God, no."

"What are you then?"

"Just your friendly neighborhood human medic."

"Who keeps blood in his fridge?"

"I have vampire friends come through every once in a while."

"Okay...sure."

Yunho sits down on the sofa next to the chair Yeosang was currently occupying. "I just know a lot about vampires", he says, "More than I let on."

"Apparently so. I never would have thought I'd be sitting here with Jeong Yunho of all people after he pulls a stake out of my shoulder and gave me blood."

"And I never thought I'd have to pull a stake from your shoulder. I would've bet any amount of money that you could handle yourself."

"Lack of blood means lack of strength. I've learned my lesson."

"Good."

Yeosang looks at his tall friend and remembers something that he said. "Earlier you said I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Seonghwa, what did you mean by that?", he asks.

"Oh…", Yunho starts. He stands up and goes over to the kitchen counter. Yeosang sees him pick up what looks like a piece of paper before heading back to the sofa.

Yunho hands him the paper and says, "Here."

Yeosang looks at the paper which looks to be a hastily written note that says, "He's hurt badly, remove the stake as quickly as you can. He's weak, but I can't do anything about it. I know you can. -Seonghwa"

"I found you lying unconscious outside my door with that note attached to the stake", Yunho says, "I brought you inside and tried to remove the stake before you woke up but you opened your eyes before I could even attempt to."

Yeosang reads over the note again. "So...Seonghwa saved me?", he asks.

"It seems so", Yunho says, "I didn't even see him. He's been here before to get patched up so I just assumed he remembered the location."

"Wow, so everyone knew you were some wiz healer but me, huh?", Yeosang says.

"Basically, yes."

"Wow...Seonghwa still cares about me after all these years, huh?"

"I mean...duh."

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires for some reason can drink alcohol. Still baffles me but they can. It takes a lot of alcohol for a vampire to get drunk, though. But one time about maybe 4 months back, Seonghwa stumbled in here drunk and covered in blood. I patched him up and he kept rambling on and on about how he misses you and that he regrets ever dragging you into the vampire business."

Yeosang looks shocked. "Really?"

Yunho nods. "If I remember correctly, his exact words were "I can't stop thinking about him" or something like that", he says, "by the way, you guys are gross."

Yeosang says, "I know. But how did he even find where I was?"

"Well, considering I'm not stupid, I had assumed that you went to go see him during your lunch break."

"I...did."

"And I just assumed he followed you afterward."

"Why would he follow me?"

Yunho shrugs and Yeosang looks at his shoulder to see that the wound has finished closing up but there was a massive tear in his work shirt. He sighs.

"Yunho, did you happen to see where you put my jacket? I can't really go back home looking like this."

"Jacket? You weren't wearing a jacket when you showed up at my door."

"I swore I wore a jacket to work and then I took it with me to Seonghwa's...I left my jacket at his apartment."

The realization dawns on him. "That's why he was following me", Yeosang says, "to give back my jacket."

Yunho nods. "It makes sense", he says, "and wipe your face, nasty."

Yunho throws the younger a damp towel. Yeosang barely catches it before it goes flying over his head, but nevertheless uses it to get the excess blood from around his mouth.

"Thanks", Yeosang says, hanging the towel from the armrest.

"What are you going to do now?", Yunho asks.

"I guess actually get this case started."

"Good boy. I'm on the case too for technical analysis so I'll be helping you out from the station."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Yeah, they didn't wanna send anyone but vampires to catch the fiend so I'm just backup for this one."

Yeosang nods. "I'm looking forward to working with you again, I guess."

"Drop the formalities, I'm just Yunho, your cubicle neighbor and friend. Nothing changes now that you know I'm a medic to vampires, okay?"

"Okay."

Yeosang tries to sound convincing, still in awe that the bubbly and sometimes nosy Yunho is a vampire medic. He stands up as Yunho nods.

"I'm gonna head back to my place, my mom is probably worried sick."

"How is she by the way?"

"Still sick but she's working through it, and so am I."

"That's not great but it's good to hear she's working through it."

Yeosang quietly makes his way to the door, noticing how dark it is when he glances out the window. "Thank you again", Yeosang says as he reaches for the doorknob.

"Make sure you don't go blabbing around that Yunho is a vampire caretaker, alright?", Yunho says, with a noticeably stern tone.

"Of course."

And with that, Yeosang turns the doorknob and steps out. He takes care to close the door behind him as quietly as possible. He breathes out heavily.

Yeosang's hands shake as he makes his way down the street towards his own home. He turns a corner and looks around to make sure there's no one in the area. After he makes sure he's alone, he bares his fangs and red eye. He takes off running down the street at superhuman speed.

As he approaches the home he shares with his mom, he slows down and halts outside the door. He makes sure his face is back to normal before walking inside.

"Mom, I'm home", Yeosang calls out. No response, which means she must be asleep already.

Yeosang makes his way to his own room to change his shirt, not wanting his mom to be worried about his bloody, tattered previous one. He throws on some old t-shirt and makes his way to his mom's room to check up on her. 

His mom lays quietly on her bed, fast asleep. Yeosang laughs quietly at the sound of her quiet snoring. He walks up to the bed and looks at her face. He wishes he could sleep peacefully like that. He hadn't slept well in months, and when he could, it was from exhaustion. He didn't feel the need to sleep as often as humans do but much more often than vampires do. He wishes he could just climb into bed and sleep like anyone else but it's not that easy. And now that he has some fresh blood in his system, he won't be able to sleep for a long time.

Yeosang grabs a blanket that fell off the bed and lays it on top of his mom. "Sweet dreams", Yeosang says and gives his mom a kiss on the cheek.

He quietly makes his way out of the room and shuts the door behind him. He makes his way to the living room and sits down on the couch. He turns on the TV to find something to pass the time, finally settling on some cartoons. Long ago, he felt he had lost all semblance semblance of human emotions but all he feels right now is love, hurt, and sadness. He felt he regained the half of his humanity that he lost. But he knew it wouldn't last. As much as he wanted it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Best boy Yunho, I tell you.


	4. Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case finally starts for Seonghwa and Yeosang. Two new people appear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: mention of r*pe

_Yeosang typed away at a report he was writing up for a case that he and Seonghwa had just closed. They had been assigned to be partners on field a few months prior, and things were going swimmingly._

_"I'm gonna need those finished and sent to Chief's office by the end of your shift, Kang", Mingi says, appearing over his shoulder for the second time that day._

_Yeosang jumps back, clearly shocked by the sudden appearance of the secretary. "Jeez, you do that one more time and I might have a heart attack", Yeosang says, "What are you, a ninja?"_

_"Something like that", Mingi answers, "But I need to get the case filed away as soon as possible."_

_"I'll make it happen."_

_"Thank you, Kang."_

_Mingi walks away from his desk as quickly as he approached, allowing Yeosang to get back to work. The last case had been a very peculiar one and one that seemed to affect Seonghwa more than any other case they've worked on together. Yeosang looks down at the case name again._

_Case 241: Vampire Family Slaughter_

A fire burns in the middle of the room as a young silver-haired male stands over it, throwing various items in.

"Wooyoung", a voice from afar calls out towards him.

Said man, Wooyoung, turns around towards the source of the voice.

"What is it, San?", Wooyoung calls out.

A black and red haired male comes out from the shadows and approaches Wooyoung.

"We have a new assignment", San responds.

"Another one of those recruit or kill ones?", Wooyoung asks, "Those are getting boring."

"It's our duty to the clan, Wooyoung."

"That's what they always say."

Wooyoung picks up an old shoe and throws it into the fire. It grows for a second, with neither of the men being phased, before dying down.

"I'm going for a hunt tonight, if you want to come with", San says.

Wooyoung turns toward the other and nods. "Sounds good", he says.

"We leave at sundown", San says, turning his heel to leave. He's stopped by Wooyoung grabbing his wrist.

"I forgot to ask. Who's our next target?"

"One of those pesky agents from the Bureau."

"What's their name?"

San holds up a picture and hands it over to Wooyoung.

"Park Seonghwa."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everyone step away from the scene", Yeosang hears an officer say as he and Seonghwa walk towards the yellow caution tape.

"Agent Park and Agent Kang", Seonghwa says to the officer before showing him his badge. Yeosang pulls out his badge and does the same.

The officer nods and moves the tape, allowing them to pass. Seonghwa moves quickly through with Yeosang following right behind him.

Beyond the tape, there was a body laying sprawled out across the alleyway's ground. Upon closer inspection, Yeosang notices that, like in the case file, the face is missing, revealing muscle and bone behind it. There's 2 visible sets of vampire bite marks, and blood absolutely everywhere.

"There's no doubt that this was a vampire's work", Yeosang says, putting on gloves.

"Two vampires actually", Seonghwa says, pointing to the 2 sets of bite marks. One was on the neck and and one was on the left arm. 

Yeosang looks over them both and asks, "What makes you think it's two different vampires rather than the same vampire making both marks?"

Seonghwa holds up the victim's limp arm and says, "This one's bite marks are much more messy and animalistic, while the ones on the neck are very precise and clean. This leads me to believe that there's probably an elder vampire and his newly turned friend running around doing this."

Yeosang nods, impressed at Seonghwa's deduction. The older had always been better at the detective side of the job while Yeosang was better at actually catching the perpetrators, being much more agile and sneaky than his partner.

"But why remove the face?", Yeosang asks, moving to look at the torn off skin, "To prove dominance?"

"He could be sending a message."

"But to who?"

"That's what we have to find out."

Seonghwa takes one more good examination of the body before standing up. "I think we've seen everything we need to see", he says, "let's let forensics collect their evidence."

Yeosang follows behind Seonghwa as he walks out of the crime scene. He notices that Seonghwa seems to be shaking a bit, which is unlike him.

"Do you hunt, Yeosang?", Seonghwa asks.

Yeosang looks taken aback. Did he hear that right?

"Do I...hunt?"

"Yeah, do you hunt? Like for you know...food."

"Oh…"

Yeosang didn't know how to respond. He didn't like to hunt humans just to take their blood, but there were a couple of instances where we got so hungry, he ran out and killed either hunters or criminals to feast on. But he would never call them hunts…

"I don't", Yeosang says, deadpanned.

Seonghwa stops and turns around. He raises an eyebrow and says, "How do you feed?"

Yeosang doesn't really like to talk about how he used to get blood in the past. When he was newly turned, yes, he would blindly go kill in order to make sure he stayed alive. But after a while, he figured a way to not hurt anyone in the process: he would find a recently deceased murder or suicide victim and take some blood from them. It didn't really hit the spot quite like living blood did but he took what he could get. He's been doing that ever since but recently, he's even felt guilty for that.

"Second-hand", Yeosang says, "I find my way around."

Seonghwa looks confused but doesn't press any further. "Okay then", he says.

Yeosang doesn't like to think about the fact that Seonghwa, like many other vampires, hunts for people as well.

"And before you think otherwise, I don't just randomly kill people", Seonghwa says, "I work with the police, I would never do that. I only go after those who've committed a wrong. Rapists, murderers, people like that. Don't think badly of me."

Yeosang takes a step back at that. He swears that Seonghwa can read his mind sometimes. But he's glad that Seonghwa doesn't kill innocent people for food like so many of their kind do.

The older agent turns back around and starts walking towards their car. Yeosang follows after he takes a second to recover.

They head back to the Bureau in silence, but there's an air of desire to talk lingering. Neither of them act on it but they both know it's there.

As Seonghwa strolls back into the station, he walks calmly and quickly, with his usual aura of deadly, yet approachable surrounding him. Yeosang walks awkwardly behind him, heading to his cubicle to write a report like he usually does.

Seonghwa sees him stop at his own cubicle and encourages him to follow him. So Yeosang just looks between his own desk and Seonghwa before deciding to follow.

"I'm glad we're working together again", Seonghwa says unexpectedly when they reach his cubicle. Yeosang looks taken aback for a second before his expression shifts into a slight smile.

Then Seonghwa smiles. A bright, wide smile is plastered on his face. Yeosang's expression shifts into one of surprise. He hadn't seen Seonghwa smile in 5 years. He swears he sees humanity in the elder once again. 

"And before I forget", Seonghwa says. He reaches into his cubicle and pulls out a black jacket. Yeosang's jacket.

Yeosang blinks, bringing him back to reality, and his eyes widen as he grabs it. "Thank you", he says.

He goes to put it down in his chair, fully intending to thank Seonghwa for saving his life that night, and how much he enjoyed working with him as well, when he gets back. But when he returns, the older vampire is nowhere to be found.


	5. The Clan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang looks for Seonghwa as Mingi approaches Jongho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to update as often as possible.

_"You're in way over your head", Yunho says, "There's no way you're gonna be able to take down a rank S vampire by yourself."_

_Seonghwa and Yeosang look away from each other and turn to the eavesdropping Yunho. The blonde agent gives him a look of "mind your own business", causing the tech specialist to go back to his computer._

_"Yeosang, I can't allow you to come with me on this one, it's too dangerous", Seonghwa says._

_"I'm not gonna let you take on the vampire yourself", Yeosang says._

_"I just can't let you come with me."_

_"Why not?"_

_"This is just something I have to handle alone."_

_"I thought we were partners. And this is my case too."_

_Seonghwa lets out a heavy sigh and his face morphs into one filled with pure darkness. "Don't follow me, I mean it, I won't say it again", he says, angrily._

_Yeosang hesitates for a moment but his eyes slowly widen. It was the first time Seonghwa had gotten so angry towards him. Usually they were able to talk out their differences, whether it be at work or their relationship. Tears were threatening to pool in his eyes._

_Seonghwa, on the other hand, immediately looks regretful for his words._

_"Yeosang, I didn't mean-"_

_"You know what, whatever. Go solve the case on your own. I don't care."_

_Yeosang storms away from the still sorrowful Seonghwa. He walks out the doors without looking back, as Yunho watches from afar._

"Choi", Mingi says, appearing around a corner. The Choi he was referring to, Jongho, turns around.

"Oh, Mr. Secretary", Jongho says before he bows.

"Just Mingi will do."

Jongho lifts his head back up and says, "Of course, Mr- I mean, Mingi."

The secretary nods and signals him to come closer. The young agent takes a few steps towards him and stops.

"How would you like a case?", Mingi asks the younger.

"A case?"

"Mhm."

"My first case?!"

Jongho's face brightens a smile appears on his face. In comparison to his vampire peers, Jongho still had semblance of life inside of him and it was exploding at that moment.

"I didn't know it was his first case", Mingi says under his breath, almost just mouthing it.

However, Jongho's superhuman hearing picks it up anyway and he says, "What was that?"

Mingi just smiles and says, "Oh, nothing."

Jongho just nods. Mingi walks closer to him and leans in.

"Hongjoong had to leave early for the day and left me in charge of case organization. I was told to assign you to an ongoing case that he felt could use your help."

"Which case?"

Jongho was still clearly excited. He had been training for a month or so but he was told he needed more work on his vampire powers before they could put him on the field. But now, he feels like they truly think he's ready.

"The one that Agent Park and Agent Kang are currently working. The serial murder case."

Jongho's eyes widen. He never thought they would put him on such a big case for his first one. But that only encourages him to feel more proud.

"I won't let you down", Jongho says. 

Mingi smiles. "Good, that's what I'd like to hear", he says.

The secretary pulls away from Jongho and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Where do I go?", Jongho asks.

"Just follow the agents but don't tell them you're on the case quite yet. Wait until they at least find out who's behind it. Until then, just tell Agent Kang you were assigned to shadow him", Mingi responds.

Jongho nods and says, "Got it."

"Now, go."

Jongho smiles and turns to head out as Mingi watches. The younger starts walking but turns back around abruptly.

"Mingi, I don't mean to sound rude, but from a vampire nose's point of view, you are wearing entirely too much cologne", Jongho says, "it hurts."

Mingi looks taken aback by his comment. "What…", he starts.

Jongho turns around and walks away without another word. Mingi looks confused as he lifts his arm up to his face and sniffs. He shrugs and heads off to file more case reports.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang looks around the office for Seonghwa but sees no sign of the elder vampire. He's about to go outside the building to continue his search but he's stopped by a noise.

"Yeosang, wait", he hears a voice behind him say.

He turns around quickly to see Jongho walking towards him.

"Jongho", Yeosang says.

"Good evening, Agent Kang", Jongho says, bowing.

"Just Yeosang will do."

"Sorry, I tend to be too formal at times."

"Hey, I know Chief likes it."

Jongho chuckles. He holds his hand out to the older agent. "I was told to shadow you for a little bit as part of my...training."

Yeosang looks confusedly at him and says, "Wait, what?"

"I'm going to be following you around to see how your job works."

"It's too dangerous when I'm working a case like this."

"I can handle myself better than you think."

Yeosang sighs. "I can't really stop you, can I?", he says.

Jongho smiles and shakes his head. Yeosang internally facepalms.

"I want to learn", he says, "And the only way to learn is to observe and practice."

"I'm only looking for Seonghwa right now which is the only reason I'm allowing you to tag along."

"Understood."

"Any time we go out on scene though, you cannot follow me, got it?"

"Got it."

Jongho gives a small salute. Yeosang nods and says, "let's head out then."

The two walk out of the building and onto the streets. Jongho shrinks back a bit when he steps foot onto the pavement.

"What's wrong?", Yeosang asks.

Jongho looks up and immediately closes his eyes. He points up to the sky.

"The sun hurts", Jongho says.

"It hurts more when you're first turned. Trust me, I'd know. Give it about a year and you'll only need sunglasses to be fine. And when you get to my milestone of 5 years, you just learn to live with it."

"It's more irritating than anything. I was running late today and ran out without my glasses and hat."

"Never forget them again, it doesn't matter if you're late. It's important, okay?"

Jongho nods, refusing to open his eyes. Yeosang sighs and takes off his jacket, handing it to the younger.

"Here, take this. Put it over your head."

Jongho reaches out for the jacket, eventually having it in his hands after a few tries. He puts the jacket over his head and slowly opens his eyes.

"Thank you."

Yeosang nods and says, "No problem. Now, let's go."

He begins walking away from the building, in the direction of West, with Jongho following behind. Yeosang doesn't know if it's just his personality or vampire instinct, but he couldn't let the young agent get hurt by the sun.

"I was always afraid to approach you because you seemed all serious and scary", Jongho says as they walk, "But it seems like you do have a heart."

"Thank...you?", Yeosang says back, confused.

"No problem."

The two walk quietly after that with the only noise occasionally being Yeosang calling out Seonghwa's name.

Jongho's abruptly stops and his head turns quickly towards an unknown location. Yeosang stops too, sensing the lack of noise and movement behind him.

"What are you looking at?", Yeosang asks, trying to follow the younger's eyes.

"I hear something from over there", Jongho responds, pointing to an alleyway in the distance.

"You can hear from all the way over there?"

"I think I hear Agent Park."

"How can you hear so far?"

"I don't know, I just can. I was able to hear a phone call on the 1st floor from the 10th floor the other day. Can you not hear what's happening over there?"

Yeosang shakes his head. "Maybe your hearing power is greater than mine because I'm only half-vampire? I'm not sure", he says.

Jongho shrugs. He looks at Yeosang then back at the alleyway.

"I think we should take care of Agent Park first", Jongho says. Yeosang nods, and he leads them over to the alleyway to investigate what Jongho heard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa lurks in the alleyway, waiting for the sun to go down so he can find someone to prey on. He hadn't fed in a while, causing him to start shaking and feeling sick. He sighs as he watches the streets get darker, slowly but surely. He eventually settles on pacing up and down the narrow patch of land.

Everything was quiet except for the wind blowing through the alley. Seonghwa had been a vampire for a long time and had gotten his way around alleyways more than a few times. This one had boxes scattered around but was otherwise empty.

_"I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to turn you then starve you to the point where you become a monster. Then I'm going to send you back to your family and watch happily as you tear them apart limb from limb."_

Seonghwa shakes his head. Now was not the time to think about how he became a vampire. That was one thing he never admitted to anyone, that he wasn't a natural born vampire, but rather turned 200 years ago by his family's business rivals in an attempt for petty revenge. He hated it and he showed it when he went back and slaughtered the entirety of the rivals' bloodline. It's something he'll never talk about and regrets to this day.

The sound of leaves crunching rings into Seonghwa's ears and his head snaps around, the rest of his body following. He turns around to see two young men, both with bright red eyes and visible fangs. Seonghwa's vampire instinct kicks in.

"What the hell are you doing here?", Seonghwa growls, his eyes turning red as well, as if they had a mind of their own.

"Can't have a hunt or something?", the one with silver hair says.

"This is my territory", Seonghwa says, baring his fangs.

The other male holds his arm out to block the silver haired vampire from doing anything. "Now, Wooyoung, we came here with a purpose", he says.

The silver haired male nods and steps back. The black and red haired vampire steps up to face Seonghwa, who's still snarling.

"Park Seonghwa", he says, "We've been looking for you."

Seonghwa freezes. How did they know who he was?

"How the hell do you know my name?", Seonghwa says, expression getting angrier.

"Woah, woah, calm down", the black and red haired one says, holding his hands up defensively, "We come only with an offer. Let me introduce myself, my name is San. And this is Wooyoung."

Seonghwa's face morphs from anger to confusion quickly. He lowers his defensive stance. "Offer?", he asks.

San nods. "Maybe you've heard of us", he says, "We're from the clan of ATEEZ."

Seonghwa's eyes immediately widen. He instantly recognizes the name. 

_"For blood, for brothers, and for ATEEZ", the mysterious vampire says, slicing open his wrist and allowing the blood to drip into Yeosang's open wound._

_Seonghwa was helpless to watch as his lover writhes in pain as the blood mixes with his own and starts to enter his system._

"ATEEZ…", Seonghwa growls, "You bastards!"

"Not a fan?", Wooyoung asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Sweetheart, let me handle this, okay?", San says, facing the younger.

Wooyoung backs down, waiting for San to finish. Seonghwa looks at the two with unbridled rage in his eyes.

"We'd like for you to join our clan", San says, "You would be an extremely valuable asset and we could give you even more power than you could have imagined."

Seonghwa's eye starts twitching. "You want...me...to...join ATEEZ?", he says.

"Indeed."

"I'll never forgive you", Seonghwa says under his breath. He was barely registering anything but pure hatred at that moment. San only looks slightly confused, not knowing what the other is going on about. He's about to unleash all his power, anger, and hunger upon them when he's stopped by a familiar voice.

"Seonghwa!", he hears behind him. He turns his head to see Yeosang and Jongho coming into the alleyway. Seonghwa's eyes widen as San smirks.

"Look what we have here, Wooyoung. It's the traitorous Bureau vampires."

San looks back at Wooyoung, who just nods, before turning back to the agents.

"Park Seonghwa, Rank A. Choi Jongho, Rank C. And...who are you?"

San narrows his eyes at Yeosang who was currently lodged between the two aforementioned vampires.

"None of your business!", Seonghwa says, on the verge of charging at him.

"You look familiar", San says, "You smell familiar."

"There's no need for you to know anything", Seonghwa says, putting his arm in front of Yeosang.

"Hmph", San says, "I'll find out someday."

Jongho steps in front of the other two agents. "I don't know who you guys are but I suggest you get out of here before things get ugly", he says.

"What are you doing?", Seonghwa asks.

"Showing that I can handle myself."

"A newly turned, huh?", San says, scrunching his nose, "You definitely smell like it."

"What's a low rank vampire like you gonna do?", Wooyoung says.

Jongho runs forward with superhuman speed and throws his fist directly into the center of Wooyoung's chest. The silver-haired vampire goes flying back into one of the boxes at the end of the alleyway. Yeosang, Seonghwa, and San's eyes all simultaneously widen.

The youngest vampire stands up straight from his current fighting stance and clears his throat. He turns to the 3 others standing behind him, with his fangs bared and his eyes a faded yellow, indicating his newly turned status.

"Any other volunteers?", he asks in a much more threatening tone than any of them had ever heard from him. The 3 vampires shake their heads simultaneously.

Under his breath, San mutters, "Fuckers lied to me. Rank C, my ass."

"Before I turned, I used to be able to break apples and even melons sometimes with my bare hands", Jongho explains, "Combine that with vampire strength and you get: that."

He points to Wooyoung, who is currently trying to recover after being thrown. The silver-haired vampire stands up and dusts off his pants.

"You're dead meat", Wooyoung growls towards Jongho.

He then starts running towards the youngest but something blocks his way and he stops.

"Stick to the mission", San says, blocking his path.

Wooyoung looks like he's about to attack the younger anyway but ultimately stands down. "What do we do now?", he asks.

"I think that's all we can do for now, though", San says, "Think about what we said, Seonghwa. Think about our offer. We'll be back."

In a flash, San walks over to Wooyoung as grabs his arm. The older smirks at the younger before the two disappear into the shadows.

Seonghwa feels his body numb and exhaustion hits him almost the instant they're gone. He slumps over and Yeosang catches him before he falls.

"Woah", Yeosang says, "Are you okay?"

Seonghwa breathes heavy. Jongho bends down to get a look at him.

"When was the last time you had blood, Seonghwa?", the youngest asks.

Seonghwa looks into the younger's eyes. "About a month", he says.

Jongho looks shocked and says, "That's how long I've been a vampire, jeez."

Yeosang tries to help Seonghwa to his feet and he notices from the corner of his eye that Jongho is pulling something out of his inside pocket. The youngest pulls out a small, silver bottle. He hands it to Seonghwa.

"Here", Jongho says, putting the bottle in Seonghwa's hands.

Seonghwa and Yeosang both look confused. They look at each other then back at Jongho.

"What is this?", Seonghwa asks.

"What do you think it is?", Jongho says, "It's human blood."

Yeosang looks more shocked than Seonghwa as he asks, "But...how? Why?"

"I'm a newly turned, I have to keep myself in check cause I get hungry so often. I keep a small bit on me at all times to satiate the hunger. I had to get a sealed off bottle so the smell wouldn't leak. I've had too many vampires think I'm human."

"That makes...a lot of sense."

"I can always get more. Drink that until you can get more later."

"Where did this come from? Like whose blood is it?", Seonghwa chimes in.

"Man I found dead on 3rd Street", Jongho responds.

"You didn't kill him?"

"Oh god no, I came into the Bureau the minute I was turned, I wouldn't go around hunting the people we're supposed to protect."

Yeosang looks at the boy, impressed. Seonghwa opens the bottle and the sickeningly sweet smell of human blood hits him.

"Drink", Jongho says, "If anyone knows what it's like to be extremely hungry, it's currently me."

Seonghwa nods and holds the bottle up to his lips. He downs the red contents, making sure not to leave a drop behind. Yeosang and Jongho watch as he drops the bottle and shivers.

"That's good", Seonghwa says, recovering from exhaustion.

"Yeah, don't drop my bottle", Jongho says.

The youngest bends down to pick up the bottle from the ground and wipes the dust off of it. Yeosang looks at Seonghwa and sees that he has a little bit of blood on his lip.

"Seonghwa", Yeosang says. The older looks at him with piercing eyes.

"Yeah?", he asks.

"Let me get this for you."

Yeosang reaches up and brushes Seonghwa's lip with his thumb. He wipes away at the blood, returning Seonghwa's face back to normal. Yeosang blushes as he locks eyes with the older. He feels his heart actually skip a beat for the first time in forever. He already knew he had missed Seonghwa and still loved him but this is just confirming that. The two just stare at each other for a moment before being interrupted by Jongho.

"You guys are gross", Jongho says, picking off a piece of gravel from his bottle.

Yeosang looks away from Seonghwa and backs away quickly. He covers it up with a cough, before changing the topic.

"Jongho", Yeosang says.

Said boy looks up. "Yes?", he says.

"That was...extremely impressive what you did, by the way", Yeosang says, "You are very strong."

Jongho laughs. "I get that a lot", he says, "I'm going for the title of World's Strongest Vampire."

"I think you could do it", Seonghwa says, "You sent that Wooyoung guy flying."

Jongho bows and smiles. Yeosang stands next to the two, contemplating.

"Wooyoung was the silver-haired guy, right?", Yeosang asks.

Seonghwa turns his attention towards him. "Uh...yeah, why?", Seonghwa asks, "Do you know him?"

"No, I don't", Yeosang says, "The other guy, on the other hand…"

"Do you know him? He said his name was San."

"San...the name doesn't ring a bell but when he said I was familiar, for some reason I felt like I knew him from somewhere."

"Don't push yourself for it", Seonghwa says. Yeosang nods.

"What did that guy mean, by the way?", Jongho asks suddenly, "When he said to "think about what he said and think about his offer"?"

"Oh", Seonghwa says, "It's complicated."

"Explain", Yeosang says.

"They're from a clan."

Yeosang and Jongho look a bit confused. While Yeosang had been a vampire for a while, he didn't know much about the culture of it. Jongho had never been exposed to it, either.

"Allow me to enlighten you", Seonghwa says, "A clan is basically a bond between vampires. Once you join a clan, they basically become your family and typically families will have their own clans for them and their children. But some clans are composed of just random people that somehow came together. I'm guessing theirs is one of those."

Yeosang and Jongho nod. "Are we not a clan then?", Jongho asks.

Seonghwa laughs. "Not exactly, buddy", he says.

"But what did they want from you?", Yeosang cuts in.

"They wanted me to join and apparently 'no' was not the answer they were looking for."

Seonghwa thanked the lords that the two did not see him in his murderous rage state before they showed up in the alleyway. He couldn't let his juniors see him like that. He also couldn't let Yeosang know the truth about his turning. It was too much for him.

"They said they'll be back", Jongho says.

"We'll be ready", Yeosang says. Seonghwa nods. 

"Anything else you wanna tell us?", Yeosang asks, expectantly.

Seonghwa shakes his head quickly. "Nope", he says. 

Yeosang raises an eyebrow but ultimately, let's it go. Seonghwa opens his mouth again.

"Wait, there is", he says.

"Do tell", Jongho says.

"I was thinking about it when I was talking to those two but did you notice that those two fit the suspect profiles for our current case perfectly? One elder vampire alpha, San, and his compliant, obviously much newer vampire friend, Wooyoung."

Yeosang's eyes widen. "Oh my god, you're right", he says.

"I think we have our prime suspects for now."

"I'll try and find their files when we get back to the Bureau."

"This is for that serial murder case, right?", Jongho asks.

"Yeah, why?", Yeosang asks.

Jongho starts to open his mouth to say something but then remembers Mingi's words. "Nothing, just curious", he says instead.

"Let's head back", Seonghwa says, "I want to get more info on them."

Yeosang nods and begins to lead the way out of the alley with the other two following close behind.

Unbeknownst to them, a dark figure watches them leave from the back of the alley.


	6. Call Out My Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa and Yeosang do research into the suspects.

_Yeosang didn't show up to work the next day. Seonghwa had looked for him and even went to his house but his mom told him that he wasn't there. Defeated, he goes off on his weekly hunt._

_Yeosang roamed the streets, still contemplating what he was going to say to Seonghwa when he saw him again. It wasn't something he was used to, not knowing what to say. Thought after thought of the words he wanted to say ran through his head. None of them seemed right._

_He walks down the sidewalk, not paying attention to what he was passing. By then, the sun had already gone down. He realizes the should probably get home before the bloodsuckers come out, but by then it's probably too late._

_Yeosang picks up the pace, walking twice as fast than he previously was. The streetlights only lit up a portion of where he was walking but he still keeps his head down as he walks on. His only goal in mind is getting home._

_But then, he hears it. He stops in his tracks as he hears the indistinguishable sound of a vampire feeding on his prey. It was a sound he heard too many times in his line of work. By now, he should be used to it but hearing a bloodsucking monster eating one of your own kind is not something that's easy to get accustomed to._

_He turns to his left to see an alley entrance about 2 feet in front of him. Fear takes over and he freezes. Curiosity gets the best of him however and he finds himself leaning over to peek into the alley._

_He sees someone kneeling over the body on the ground. Everything in him is telling him to run away but he just stands there in shock._

_He starts walking towards the scene in front of him..._

Mingi stands at the coffee machine, brewing some of the dark beverage for Hongjoong. He barely notices the 3 agents behind him hurriedly walk passed him. He quickly turns around as Jongho passes by, barely avoiding crashing into him. 

"Well, welcome back", Mingi says, dusting off his jacket.

"Sorry", Jongho says as he slows down. He turns around to look at Mingi. The other two agents slow down as well a bit further down the hall.

"A day in the life of the secretary, I guess", Mingi says. He turns back around and fiddles with the handle of the coffee pot.

Jongho walks closer to Mingi, who looks back up at him. The younger says, "I haven't told them I've been added to the case but we now have some prime suspects."

Mingi raises an eyebrow. "Really?", he says.

Jongho nods. "We'll file reports later", Jongho says, "At least I think anyway, I'm still new to this. But I'm so excited!"

"Excited...to investigate murder?", Mingi asks.

"Well, when you put it like that…", Jongho says, pouting.

"It is the way of the vampire I suppose."

Jongho tilts his head in confusion as Mingi grabs the coffee pot and pours it into a cup.

"Jongho!", Seonghwa says from down the hall, signaling for him to follow him and Yeosang. The youngest turns his head towards them, nods, then turns back to Mingi.

"Watch yourself out there, now", Mingi says, grabbing the coffee cup. Jongho gives a slightly confused look towards him but ultimately nods. The younger agent watches as Mingi walks off to the Chief's office, before running off to join Yeosang and Seonghwa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"San and Wooyoung, right?", Yeosang says, typing away at the computer.

"Yes", Seonghwa says, running his hand through his hair. Jongho paces back and forth between the small space in Yeosang's cubicle.

"Well considering there's thousands of people with those names in South Korea, and the fact that we don't even know if those are their real names, this will take a while", Yeosang says, searching through public records, and seeing thousands of results pop up.

"Sounds like a typical case", Seonghwa says, "Is there any way to get through these quicker?"

"I do know one way", Yeosang says. The half-vampire stands up and leans over the top of his cubicle and sees the top of someone's bright blue head, that was also covered by the top of headphones.

"Yunho", he says. Said tech analyst doesn't respond, so Yeosang taps the top of his head to get his attention.

The face of Yunho looks up at Yeosang and he removes his headphones. "What's up?", he asks.

"We need you to work your tech magic and help us track down a suspect", Yeosang says, "or rather suspects."

Yunho stops whatever he's doing on his computer and opens up a new file. "The serial murder case? What did you find?", he asks.

"We believe it's two vampires and we think we've found the ones. The only thing we have are their names and even then it may not be their real names."

Yunho nods. "Give me the names you have and we'll work from there."

"San and Wooyoung."

Yunho types them into his computer and gets to work filtering through the names. "What do they look like?"

"Wooyoung has silver hair is about maybe 172cm while San has black and red hair and is just a slight bit taller."

"I'll see what I can do", Yunho says, "I'm gonna need a lot more coffee.

He begins typing away at him computer as Yeosang turns back to Seonghwa. "See", he says.

Seonghwa shrugs as Yunho calls for Yeosang.

"I'm all for trying to solve this case but you first need to find evidence that they're the ones who committed the murders", Yunho says.

"What do you mean?", Yeosang asks.

"It's gonna take me a while to filter through the system so in the meantime, maybe you should go try to find evidence that they're actually the culprits."

"You're right."

Yeosang turns to Seonghwa who nods. Jongho stands back and nods as well. 

"Let's go then", Yeosang says, walking out of the cubicle. Seonghwa and Jongho quickly follow behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

San slams his fist down on the table in front of him.

"Why can't I put my finger on it? Who is he?", San asks.

"Who is who?", Wooyoung asks.

"That guy who was with Park Seonghwa and Choi Jongho. He seems so familiar and yet I can't seem to figure it out."

"Maybe he was one that you turned?"

"No, he smelled like both human and vampire at the same time. It's so confusing but I swear I've seen his face somewhere before."

"Will you seek him out?"

"Hm…"

San strokes his chin slowly as Wooyoung tries to read his face.

"Wooyoung", the dark haired says suddenly.

Wooyoung blinks quickly and says, "Yes?"

"We're changing targets."

"Changing targets?"

"I want that mystery agent. Find out who he is."

"What if he isn't a vampire? You said he also smelled human."

"That's the intriguing part. I have no doubt that he is a vampire, but why does he smell human? Why do I feel like I know him? That's what I want to find out."

"What about Park Seonghwa?"

"We will still try to recruit him but we will shift our main focus to the other agent."

"Okay."

"Find out about him. Get his name first, then we will go from there."

"On it."

"Good. I'm entrusting you with this, Wooyoung."

"It's an honor."

San nods and turns around. He walks out of the room and into the hallway, leaving Wooyoung to make his plan of attack alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have Agent Kang and Agent Park filed the daily report on their case yet?", Hongjoong asks as Mingi hands him his coffee.

"Not yet, but I'll make sure they do it as soon as possible", Mingi responds.

"Perfect."

Hongjoong takes a sip from the cup and looks out the window. "The days go by so fast", he says.

"They do", Mingi says, sorting through his papers.

"Sometimes, even I wish I could be a vampire so I can live forever and see everything the world has to offer."

Mingi looks surprised at the Chief's words. "I doubt it would be as amazing as you'd think. Take a look at Agents Kang and Park, I saw them smile for the first time in like 5 years yesterday."

"You say that as if you smile that often yourself, Mingi."

Mingi's eyes widen in shock. "I…"

"I didn't mean it like that. I want you to enjoy your job but I don't see you smile that often. I like your smile, I wish you'd do it more often."

Mingi feels a blush creeping up on his cheeks. "Hongjoong…"

"No need to get embarrassed, Mingi", Hongjoong says with a small chuckle.

Mingi nods and smiles. "Okay."

"There's that smile", Hongjoong says, returning one of his own.

Mingi lowers his head so Hongjoong doesn't see his cheeks turning pink as he adds another paper into his file.

"Can you go fetch Agent Jeong for me?", Hongjoong asks, "He's been expressing some concerns about his case."

"Concerns?"

"I'm wondering about them too. That's why I need him in here."

"I'll go get him right now."

"Thank you, Mingi."

Mingi bows and walks to the door. He opens it and walks out before quietly closing it again.

"Something's not right about this whole thing", Hongjoong says to himself. He scratches his head and waits for Yunho to enter his office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa watches as Yunho follows Mingi towards the Chief's office and stops.

"Yeosang, Jongho, I'll catch up with you guys", he says, as he walks away from the two.

They barely have time to react before Seonghwa is gone from their sight.

Seonghwa makes his way over to Yunho and calls out to him.

"Hey, Mingi, can I steal Yunho for a second?", he asks the secretary.

"I'm under direct orders to bring Yunho to the Chief's office", Mingi says.

"I swear it'll only take a second", Seonghwa says.

"Ugh...fine. Also, I need your daily report filed ASAP."

Seonghwa nods. Yunho looks at Seonghwa as the older leads him away from Mingi. "I need a favor", Seonghwa says.

"A favor?"

"Yes. I need you to research something for me."

"And what is that?"

"I need to research a vampire cult called ATEEZ."

Yunho looks confused. "A vampire cult?"

"Yes. ATEEZ is the name."

"And why do you need me to research this cult?"

"I think they may be related to the case. And that San and Wooyoung may be members."

"Why didn't you just ask me earlier when you guys were giving me details?"

"Yeosang can't know about this. No one can know about this."

"Why not?"

"They just can't. Promise me you won't tell anyone. Please."

"Fine. I'll promise. I'll see what I can do after I find information on the suspects "

"Thank you so much, Yunho."

Seonghwa bows to Yunho as the younger walks back to Mingi. He wonders if it was a mistake to ask but he supposes it's too late for that.

As he makes his way back to Yeosang and Jongho, he feels a sudden feeling of dread. It feels like something's wrong. It's a feeling he's been having for the last five years, but he wonders why he's having it now.

He comes face to face with Yeosang before he realizes anything. "Seonghwa?", Yeosang calls out.

Seonghwa blinks and snaps himself out of his thoughts before looking into Yeosang's eyes.

"Oh..hey, what's up?", Seonghwa asks.

"I wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For saving me that night."

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "For saving you?", he asks.

"Yes, I really wanted to thank you. I wouldn't be here without you."

"I didn't save you, if anything, I only ruined your life."

"What are you talking about? I wouldn't be alive now without you."

"As alive as us vampires can be, am I right?", Seonghwa says jokingly.

Yeosang laughs. It's not something he's done in so long, it almost comes out robotic. But, he sees Seonghwa smiles anyway.

"Was that a joke from Stone Seonghwa?", Yeosang asks, "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I was quite the comedian in my day, I'll have you know."

"Maybe like 100 years ago."

"That sounds like my day, yes."

Jongho pops his head in between the two and says, "Wow, you are old."

"Thanks, Jongho, that makes me feel great about myself", Seonghwa says.

The youngest shrugs as he walks away.

"So what do you say we get that evidence?", Seonghwa says.

"Let's do it", Yeosang says.

The two make their way towards the door with Jongho following behind, and head to the place they last saw the suspects.


	7. Blood Smears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yunho and Yeosang investigate more into San and Wooyoung. Seonghwa and Jongho learn more about eachother.

_Yeosang sees the blonde head of the vampire before he sees anything else. He tried to be as quiet as possible sneaking into the alleyway. The alleyway was only lit up by a single lamp. As he got closer, he sees the vampire was wearing a black mask that covers everything but his mouth and eyes. The blonde holds the body he just fed from in his arms. Yeosang makes his way behind a stack of crates to watch the scene play out. He peers from behind it and watches as the vampire throws the body at the wall._

_"Piece of shit", Yeosang hears him say._

_The body hits the wall then the ground with a sickening crunch. Yeosang has to hold back the urge to throw up at the sight of the limbs contorting._

_The vampire goes over to the body, therefore coming closer to Yeosang in the process. He now sees the vampire is wearing a gray business suit which strikes Yeosang as strange. He had never seen a vampire hunt in anything other than fully black clothing. The vampire gives the body one last kick for good measure, causing Yeosang to flinch._

_Yeosang watches as the vampire reaches up to run a hand through his hair before reaching for his mask. The bright red in his eyes is much more prominent up close and the sharp fangs are slightly visible as well._

_The vampire unzips his mask from the back and peels it off of his face before looking at the body again. Yeosang's eyes widen at the sight of the vampire's face. He knew that face. He knew it all too well._

_"Seonghwa?!", Yeosang says, stumbling backwards._

Wooyoung stands behind a man currently tied up to a chair.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?", the man asks him.

"Trust me, I want nothing with you", Wooyoung says, "I just want some information."

The man pulls at the restraints to no avail. "I don't know who you are but you're not getting shit out of me", he says.

Wooyoung laughs. "Fine, we can do this the hard way", he says.

He quickly bares his fangs and his eyes begin glowing red. The man's eyes widen.

"Now, there's 3 vampires at your Bureau, yes?", Wooyoung asks.

"What makes you think I'm even apart of the Bureau?"

"Drop it, Agent Kim, we've got eyes everywhere."

"What do you want with our agents?"

"Not all of them, just the vampires. There's Park Seonghwa, Choi Jongho, and what's the third one's name?"

"Why would I tell you?"

Wooyoung brings his face closer to the agent's. "Here's why."

The silver-haired vampire looks into the agent's eyes and says, "Now, tell me his name."

The agent, now under Wooyoung's charm, says, "Kang Yeosang. He's the third one."

Wooyoung smiles. "Kang Yeosang, huh?"

The agent nods and says, "Yes."

"Perfect, thank you, my lovely agent. That's all I needed from you. Now…"

Wooyoung walks behind the agent and bends down to whisper into his ear.

"You're of no more use to me", he whispers. He quickly sinks his fangs into the agent's neck as the latter starts to go limp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho types away at the computer, having narrowed down the suspect list to about 30 people for San and 47 people for Wooyoung. He picks up his nearly empty coffee cup and takes a sip.

"Would you like another one?", he hears a voice behind him say. He jumps back at that.

He looks behind him to see who scared him, only to be met with Mingi's bright eyes and smile. Yunho looks taken aback as he rarely ever sees Mingi smile, especially at him.

"What?", he asks.

"I asked if you wanted another coffee", Mingi says.

Yunho looks at the cup on his desk then back at Mingi. "Why are you offering?", Yunho says.

"I can't just offer? I was gonna go make myself one anyway and thought I'd offer."

"Oh...then I'd love one, thank you."

Mingi nods then goes off to the coffee machine. Yunho sighs.

Yeosang looks over the cubicle and says, "What just happened?"

Yunho jumps back again at the sudden intrusion of the half-vampire. "Dude, you scared me", he says.

"Now you know how I feel every time you eavesdrop on me", Yeosang says.

"I thought you went out to collect evidence."

"We went back to the alleyway but there was nothing there. So Seonghwa and Jongho went to go look some more while I was sent back here to write the report that Mingi won't get off our asses about."

"Why is Jongho out on the field?"

"No idea, apparently he was told to shadow us but I think it's a bit too much of a dangerous time to be shadowing us."

"Agreed."

"But speaking of Mingi…"

Yunho looks at Yeosang, confused.

"What about him?", Yunho asks.

"You like him", Yeosang says, "don't you?"

Yunho's eyes widen and he pushes away from his desk. "What do you mean?", he asks.

"You like him, as more than a friend."

Yunho starts stuttering over his words. "I...I don't...know what you're talking...about", he says.

Yeosang smiles. "It's okay, it's hard to find love in a fucked up world like this but if anyone can do it, it's you."

Yunho sighs and slides his chair back to his desk. "It would never happen, it's just a passing thought in my head, it would never come to fruition."

"And why not? You like him, what's to say he doesn't feel the same? He offered you coffee."

"He offers a lot of people coffee."

"I've never been offered coffee."

"Yeosang, you can't drink coffee."

"That's understandable. But back to the point, give it a try."

"It's not like I have a chance anyway", Yunho says, "He's completely infatuated with the Chief. He wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Oh."

Yeosang lays his head on top of the cubicle. "I guess I'm not around enough to realize something like that."

"Yeah, he's interested in Chief. Anyone can see it. And that's fine. It doesn't bother me. I don't make his decisions."

Yunho puts his fingers back on his keyboard and keeps typing.

"I see", Yeosang says.

"Plus, my job is first priority, so I don't have time to deal with relationships."

Yeosang nods. "I get it."

"Speaking of relationships...how are things going with Seonghwa?"

Yeosang looks taken aback. "Seonghwa?"

Yunho nods. "Yes, have you guys gotten back together yet?"

Yeosang's mouth hangs agape. "I...hadn't even thought of that. The case is first priority so afterward, we'll see what happens. But I did finally thank him for saving me that night."

"Good", Yunho says, "I still can't believe I had to pull a stake out of your shoulder."

"Trust me, I can't either."

Yunho stops typing and looks up to look Yeosang in the eyes. He opens his mouth to say something but he's interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.

"Here you go", the voice behind him says. Yunho turns around to see Mingi holding out a cup of coffee to him.

Yeosang darts his eyes between the two as Yunho accepts the coffee and takes it out of Mingi's hands.

"What are you guys up to?", Mingi asks, looking toward Yeosang and then back to Yunho.

"Just talking", Yunho says.

"Talking about feelings and shit", Yeosang says.

Mingi laughs lightly at that as Yunho looks confusedly at Yeosang.

"That's cute", Mingi says.

"Call me cute all you want but I can kill a man with my bare hands", Yeosang says.

"As I've been told. Well, I'll leave you guys to it then. Enjoy your coffee, Yunho."

Mingi turns his heel and walks away towards the Chief's office. Yunho watches as he leaves before turning back to Yeosang.

"What?", Yeosang says.

"I've never seen him laugh before", Yunho says.

"Oh?"

"I can't believe you were able to make him laugh before I could."

"I wouldn't really call that laugh. That was just a more complicated cough if anything."

"Even as a human, even I forget I have a heart sometimes."

Yeosang nods. "I think we all do in this line of work", he says.

Yunho goes back to his computer and clicks on the file.

"I've narrowed down the suspects so if you'd like to take a look at the list here, you can see which one looks like them", Yunho says.

Yeosang walks out of his own cubicle and into Yunho's to take a look at his screen. Yunho pulls up the list of the 30 San's he's narrowed down.

"This is the most I was able to narrow down", Yunho says, "Just click on each one and see if it's the one you're looking for."

Yeosang pulls up his chair and sits down. One by one, he clicks on and clicks out of the profiles of the many San's that Yunho found. To no avail, he clicks on the 30th one but doesn't recognize him either.

"None of these is the guy I saw", Yeosang says, defeated.

"Here", Yunho says. He takes the mouse back from Yeosang and clicks on the other files, the one with the 47 Wooyoung's. 

"Oh?", Yeosang says.

"Try to find the other guy."

Yeosang once again begins clicking on and off each profile, trying to find the silver-haired haired vampire that Jongho punched.

By the 24th one, Yeosang had given up hope of ever finding either of them. Then he clicks on the 25th one, Jung Wooyoung, and a familiar face pops up. It's the silver-haired vampire, only with brown hair instead.

"That's him", Yeosang says, "That's Wooyoung."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want to find those fuckers before another murder is committed", Seonghwa says, walking faster than Jongho can keep up. The sun was close to setting by then, but Jongho still tried to cover his face with his gloved hand as they walked to keep the sun out of his eyes.

"Woah, slow down", Jongho says.

"If they get away from me again, I don't know what I'll do."

"What's your problem?"

Seonghwa stops walking. He turns around to look at the younger vampire. 

"What's my problem? Did you just ask what my problem is?"

"Yes, why are you so worked up about this? We'll find them, you need to keep your head cool."

Seonghwa takes a deep breath in and breathes out. He sighs quietly.

"You're right. I get so hotheaded when it comes to Yeosang."

"Yeosang? What does he have to do with anything?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen slightly as he realizes what he said. He closes his eyes.

"It's just...what San said about Yeosang", Seonghwa says, "It bothered me. I feel like they're gonna come after him."

That was part of it but it wasn't the whole story. Seonghwa hoped that Jongho wouldn't press for any further information, however.

"That's right...should we not make sure he's not alone?", Jongho says.

Seonghwa shakes his head. "I'm worried for nothing, he knows how to handle himself", he says.

Jongho nods. "I have no doubt that he does", he responds.

Seonghwa turns back around and starts walking again, this time a bit slower so Jongho can keep up. Jongho looks over him.

"Do you have any dreams, Seonghwa?", he asks.

"Why the sudden question?", Seonghwa retorts.

"Just interested."

"I haven't had one in a long time, no. My ambitions are mostly just making sure vampires don't destroy the world and to keep people safe, if you'd like to call that a dream."

"You really are something, Seonghwa. I meant before all this, did you have a dream?"

"I think you're underestimating how long I've been alive, Jongho. I'm older than about 8 generations of your ancestors."

Jongho's eyes widen. "Wow", he says, "You really do not look your age."

Seonghwa rolls his eyes. "Thanks, I get that a lot", he says, sarcastically.

"No problem, what am I here for?", Jongho says, ignoring the sarcasm.

"What about you?", Seonghwa asks, pointing at the younger.

"What about me?"

"Do you have any dreams?"

"Oh. I did, before I got turned."

"Which is?"

"I wanted to be a famous singer", Jongho says, "but that would be hard when you can't go and make public appearances in the sun for too long."

"Jongho", Seonghwa says as they keep walking. Jongho looks up at him.

"Hm?", the younger says.

"You should never give up on your dreams. I learned that the hard way. Be what you want to be. Being a vampire might be an obstacle but it's not impossible to live a normal life."

"It's pretty hard though. I don't even have a home. My parents' home got reclaimed after they were killed."

"Wait...where do you stay?"

"The Bureau has a loft area on the higher floors, I sleep in one of the rooms up there. Nice bed and everything, I quite enjoy it actually."

"That's good. I had no idea about the loft."

"I mean if everything knew about it, then there would be too many people staying up there."

"You're right."

Seonghwa sighs. "I say you should still pursue it. Your dream is your dream. Don't let anything tarnish that."

Jongho smiles and nods. "It's a nice thought but I think the world needs a vampire agent protecting it more than it needs a singer."

"You really are much more grown up than I thought."

"Thank you, I try."

The two look around for a few more minutes before they lock eyes on a fruit stand across the street. As if answering their prayers, Seonghwa spots black and red locks. His eyes widen.

"Jongho, hide", he says quietly.

"Why do I need to- woah", he says as he's pulled to the side of the building to hide in the shade.

"That's San", Seonghwa says. Across the street, the man turns around, showing his face.

"That's him alright", Jongho says, "So what's our plan of attack?"

"We just keep an eye on him."

"Why's he at a fruit stand?"

"Why the hell would I know?"

"Worth a shot asking."

The two see a man talking to the black and red haired vampire at the fruit stand. San smiles as the man picks out some apples. Once the man pays for his food, says his goodbye, and walks away however, San's smile immediately drops and he turns to watch the man leave. Seonghwa swears he catches a glimpse of San licking his lips.

Jongho pokes his arm and turns his attention towards the man walking away from the stand. Seonghwa narrows his eyes to get a better look at him.

"Is that…", Seonghwa starts.

"Chief."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeosang", Yunho says, catching the younger before he leaves for the night. The half-vampire turns around and raises an eyebrow.

"I forgot to tell you", Yunho says, "Don't ever tell anyone else that Seonghwa saved you that night."

"What do you mean?", Yeosang asks, confused.

"Yeosang...he killed a hunter. If anyone finds out, he's dead meat."

Yeosang's eyes widen in realization. "Oh my god…", he says.

"Yeah, and make sure he doesn't tell anyone either. It's more serious than you think."

"Of course."

"Good."

And with that, Yeosang walks out into the night, leaving Yunho to his own devices.


	8. Ultraviolet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang and Yunho get into some trouble. Seonghwa reconnects with Yeosang. Everyone gets fucked over in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has to be my longest chapter yet.

_The vampire looks up at Yeosang as he trips over his own feet trying to move from behind the crates. Seonghwa's eyes widen as he sees his boyfriend standing there, with a look of pure hurt on his face._

_Tears threatened to pour out of Yeosang's eyes as he shakes his head._

_"This can't be happening", Yeosang says, "This is just a bad dream."_

_Seonghwa retracts his fangs quickly and his eyes turn back to brown. "Yeosang, I…", he starts._

_Yeosang starts laughing lightly. "This is a joke", Yeosang says, on the verge of tears, "please tell me this is just a joke."_

_Seonghwa can't bring himself to open his mouth. All he can do is stand and stare. Yeosang's hand start shaking and he turns around._

_His feet pick themselves up and he starts running as fast as he can. No destination in mind, he just runs to get as far away as he can._

_"Yeosang, wait!", he hears Seonghwa say. But he doesn't stop, and he doesn't look back._

_"Seonghwa", he says to himself._

"Seonghwa", Yeosang says. Said male looks up at him from the report he was filing.

"Hm?", he says.

"Jongho said you guys found San."

Seonghwa nods and says, "Jongho and I scouted him out for a bit. He was following Chief. I don't know if he knew that was the Bureau's Chief but knowing San and knowing how he knew who me and Jongho were...we think he was targeting Chief."

"And where is Chief now?"

"He's in his office, with Jongho keeping an eye on him."

"Okay, good."

"We can't let San get to us. That's what he's doing, using Chief to get to us."

"Us?"

"Remember the whole alleyway confrontation? He clearly knew who Jongho and I were. He didn't know who you were and based on his type of profile, he's not the type to not like knowing things. He's after all of us now."

Yeosang nods in understanding. "So you're basically telling me to watch my back?", he asks.

"I don't think it's best for any of us to be alone for the time being. Especially at night."

"Jongho?"

"He's fine, he stays in the lofts upstairs and there's plenty of security around."

"We...have lofts?"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"What do we do then?"

"I think we should stay in the lofts for a couple days, Jongho said there was an open room."

"I have to take care of my mom."

"Yeosang...right now we have to worry about protecting the Bureau."

Yeosang shakes his head and looks down. "My mom takes first priority. I'm sorry."

"Alright then...group sleepover at your place."

Yeosang spins his head around to look at Seonghwa. "Huh?"

Seonghwa smiles and shrugs. "It's the only way it seems."

"But…"

"If you've got any other ideas lying around, I'm all ears. For now, all we can do is make sure the three of us stick together."

Yeosang sighs. "I only have one spare bedroom. Not that any of us really sleep that much anyway"

"I sleep just fine most nights but that's because I've been alive so long I've gotten used to it."

"I don't sleep unless it's necessary."

"What's the fun in that? You don't get to dream if you don't sleep."

"You...dream?"

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "You don't?"

Yeosang sighs and says, "Not for the last five years, no. I've had nightmares mostly when I close my eyes."

Seonghwa nods and holds his arms out. Yeosang looks at him with a confused expression on his face.

"What are you doing?", Yeosang asks.

"I'm offering you a hug, duh", Seonghwa responds.

Yeosang looks even more confused. The same vampire agent who, a week ago, wouldn't even look him in the eye and always had the glint of bloodlust in his eyes, was now offering him a hug. He realizes for the first time that Seonghwa looks human, nothing like the prince of darkness aura he gave off around the Bureau for the past year. It was jarring, but welcome.

"O...Oh", Yeosang says, looking at Seonghwa's outstretched arms.

Yeosang's heart starts pounding in his chest. For so long, he had forgotten he still had a human side, choosing to repress it in order to repress the sadness that having emotions brought with it. He chose to only follow orders and only to feel anything when it was needed for a case. 

_"Agent Kang, you remind me of a robot sometimes. I doubt I've even seen you move more than your eyes on your face. Sometimes, I forget at least half of you is supposed to be human."_

The words of Mingi ring in his head. Back then, he was the Bureau's first and only vampire agent. He thought it was his duty to make sure the Bureau was safe and believed emotions were nothing but a distraction on the field and in battle. He was feared, and he knew it. His fellow agents turned the other way when he approached and that was fine with him. In fact, that's the way he liked it. But looking at Seonghwa now, with his smile and his arms held out to Yeosang, he feels like he was wrong. Emotions aren't weak, and he realizes that Seonghwa has figured that out before he has. And now, it was his turn, he figured.

Yeosang stands up and looks down at Seonghwa. The older looks at him confused as Yeosang grabs his arm and pulls him up. Seonghwa stands up too, still confused, as Yeosang looks into his eyes. The younger grabs Seonghwa by the waist and pulls him towards him. Yeosang wraps his arms around Seonghwa's torso and buries his face in his left shoulder.

Seonghwa's expression morphs into one of surprise. He hesitates in reacting. It had been about 5 years since he had hugged anyone, and he didn't expect Yeosang to actually take it. Nonetheless, he wraps his arms over Yeosang's shoulders and wraps his arms around the back of his neck. In that moment, it feels like the last 5 years never happened.

Yeosang feels a panging in his chest and he can't control the tears that start to well up in his eyes. Neither of them say anything but they both know this means more than any words can express. Just the two of them in each other's arms, feeling the weight of the other holding them up.

The two watch as Mingi passes by, giving them a strange expression before continuing on his merry way. Seonghwa pulls away slightly and then finally speaks up.

"I realized that maybe humanity is worth it after all", he says in a whisper. If Yeosang didn't have superhuman hearing, he would have missed it. The younger finally pulls away from the hug.

"What?", Yeosang says. Seonghwa rubs the back of his neck before sitting back down and crossing his legs.

"That's the reason I came back here. After you got turned, I couldn't bear to be around humans any longer. I lost faith in humanity. So I left. It took me 4 years to realize that all I've ever wanted was to protect people, not hurt them. Then, I came back. And I have no regrets."

"What did you do in those 4 years?"

Seonghwa shakes his head. "That will reveal itself in due time but that's not something I can talk about now."

"I don't understand."

"I don't either. But I came back. I shouldn't have left in the first place but I'm here now."

Yeosang nods. "I'm glad you are."

In his heart, Yeosang felt something, even if it was just a hug then casual conversation. It had been so long since he'd held someone or talked to someone. It had been so long since he felt allowed to feel anything.

"I won't leave again. I promise."

Yeosang smiles and says, "I mean I'd hope so. You can't leave me and Jongho to solve these cases by ourselves."

Seonghwa chuckles. "What would you two so without me, after all?"

Yeosang slaps Seonghwa on the arm lightly as the older leans back in his chair. "What?", Seonghwa says, "I'm right."

"Sure you are", Yeosang says with a chuckle, sitting down in his chair.

Seonghwa twitches his eye slightly, and Yeosang barely notices but he knows something is up. "Are you okay?", he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm just gonna head out for a bit."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going on a hunt. I haven't had anything since Jongho gave me that little bottle. That small amount would only hold me over so long. I'm starting to go through withdrawal."

"Wait...what?"

"I said I was going to-"

"I heard you, but you just said none of us should be alone", Yeosang says, in a confused tone.

"I did...but if any of us can handle themselves, it's me. I'm gonna go grab some stuff then go out for a hunt. I'll meet you guys back here before your shift ends and we'll head to your place."

Yeosang doesn't shift any expression, still confused. Seonghwa slaps him on the knee lightly and smiles. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt any innocent people, I already told you that", Seonghwa says.

The younger nods in understanding, realizing it's been about a week and a half since he fed. But he's able to hold out longer than the average vampire so he understands why he hasn't hit the point that Seonghwa has yet.

"Just be back before 6", Yeosang says.

"Of course."

Seonghwa stands up out of his chair and gives Yeosang a sympathetic look before walking off. Yeosang looks down but he swears he sees Seonghwa look back at him one last time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hongjoong types away at his computer, filing through reports from the previous week. Sat across the room from him is Jongho, who is currently preoccupied with reading a fashion magazine.

The two of them barely notice when the door to the office opens, although Hongjoong does shift his eyes in that general direction. Jongho hears it but doesn't pay it any mind.

Mingi enters the room and closes the door quietly behind him. He holds his usual manilla folder in his left hand. Hongjoong stops typing and looks up at him.

"Mingi", he says.

The secretary looks him in the eyes and says, "Yes?"

"What did I say about knocking?"

Mingi's expression changes and he says, "Oh, right. I'm sorry."

Hongjoong nods and turns back to computer. Mingi sighs as he finally notices a noise behind him. He turns around to see Jongho sitting there, reading a magazine quietly, the only noise being him turning the pages.

"Oh, hello, Choi", Mingi says, "How's your day going?"

Jongho peeks over the pages to see Mingi's face. His words might have said "How's your day going?" but the expression on his face screamed "What are you doing here?".

"Mingi, you switched colognes I see", Jongho says, shifting his eyes back down to keep reading the article on the current page.

"You know you've really gotta stop sniffing people", Mingi says, "It's weird."

Jongho shrugs and turns to the next page of the magazine. He could feel Mingi tense up but couldn't figure out from what. When he looks up, the secretary had already made his way to his desk next to the window. The young vampire watched him for a second as he sits down. With his super hearing, he hears Mingi sigh.

As the secretary gets to work in organizing papers however, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Jongho shifts his attention to Hongjoong, who he's supposed to be keeping an eye on at the moment. The chief looked calm, just typing away at his computer as he'd been the whole time.

Jongho sighed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and everything seemed peaceful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Seonghwa went off for his hunt, Yeosang decides to take a walk outside with Yunho. It was a beautiful, yet quiet, day. Yunho walked with his hands in his pockets while Yeosang let himself hang loose.

"It's been a while since the last murder, huh?", Yunho says.

Yeosang thinks for a second. It had been a few days since the last murder, which strikes him as odd. The others had been in a pattern of every 3 days, and it had been 4 since the last one. It can only mean the killer is changing or no one has found the last body yet.

"It really has", Yeosang responds, "Not worrying to you?"

"I'm just a tech analyst. I research suspects and disable security cameras, not play corpse hooky."

"I mean, hey, to each their own."

"You've worked on the field since you started working here. I don't know how you do it. I like my computers and not seeing corpses just fine."

"And yet you have a side job of stitching up vampires?"

"Indeed I do. Problem?"

Yeosang shakes his head. The two continue to walk on as the slight afternoon breeze blows through their hair. The younger looks up at the sky and notices a familiar building on his left. He stops.

Yunho walks a few more steps before noticing and stopping as well. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh...no. I just remember I used to go to the roof of this building and just look out onto the town."

Yunho looks up to see the top of the building. It looked about 5 stories up and it was made of mostly wood and metal.

"Would you like to go up there?", Yunho asks.

Yeosang looks at Yunho, who is currently focused on looking up. The younger smiles. "I would, actually. If it's not too much of a bother for you."

Yunho shakes his head softly. "I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to go too. I love seeing new parts of this town I haven't seen yet."

Yeosang grabs Yunho by the hand and drags him through the door. The lobby was empty and quite run down.

"Is this place abandoned?", Yunho asks.

"Only recently", Yeosang says, "Now come on."

Yeosang leads Yunho up the staircase, which takes them all the way up to the roof access. It opens without struggle and the two feel the breeze hit them as they make their way out.

"Wow", Yunho says as they make their way towards the railing.

"I know right", Yeosang responds as he looks out.

It's quiet for a minute as the wind blows through their hair and they enjoy the view. Yeosang tries to make conversation, however.

"So I've been wondering…"

"Hm?"

"Why do you stitch vampires up? Instead of fearing them like the rest of humanity does, you help them. Why?"

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "I'll tell you if you promise to tell me an interesting fact about vampires that I don't know. I want to learn more for when I treat them next time."

Yeosang nods softly. "Deal."

"One of my old friends turned out to be a vampire. He was reckless. Too reckless. One day, he showed up with burns all over his arms and a stake in his thigh. He had no one else he could go to for treatment. And I did everything I could, I removed his stake and treated his burns. Turns out, I had quite the affinity for it and he told me so. He told me I should basically open up a clinic for vampires."

"And you did."

"Yeah. He uh...died. Staked right through the heart by a hunter. So I kept the nurse thing going in his honor."

"Oh...I'm so sorry, Yunho."

"It's fine, this was years ago and yes, I'm still sad about it but I know he'd want me to keep going."

Yeosang nods. "That's a wise way to look at it."

"I prefer not to have any hang ups. Keeps me from moving forward."

"I'd love to think like that. But I'm just not ready to let go of some things."

"You mean your humanity?"

Yeosang looks up at Yunho, shocked. "I…"

"It's something no one wants to lose, do they?"

"I mean...you're right. But I've already lost mine."

"Have you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...you are literally putting your life on the line to protect humans every day, working as an agent of the Bureau. I doubt too many vampires are fans of you doing that and yet you do it."

"I still haven't figured out if that's because I've retained my humanity or because I'm so desperate to keep part of my human life."

"Either way, you seem human to me."

"Thank you, Yunho."

Yunho shrugs. "No problem."

Yeosang quietly looks up to the sky. It was a quiet day, perfect for just looking out onto the town.

"I've told you something about myself. Now, tell me an interesting fact about vampires", Yunho speaks up.

Yeosang looks back down at Yunho and strokes his chin. "Hm...some vampires wear masks when they hunt, mostly so people don't recognize them. Seonghwa, Jongho, and I especially have to wear them so no one tries to get us hanged. At least, I hope Jongho wears a mask. I know Seonghwa used to at least."

"Do you wear a mask?"

"Sometimes. I have two. One is a regular black masquerade mask and the other is an eyepatch. I usually use the first one when I'm on a regular hunt and I use the second when I don't want them knowing I'm only half-vampire, so typically during a fight rather than a hunt."

"That's...interesting."

Yeosang reaches into his pocket and pulls out two black cloths. He unravels them and holds them up to show Yunho.

"This is the masquerade one", Yeosang says, holding up the larger one. Yunho looks over it and nods.

"Looks pretty standard", Yunho says.

"And this is the eyepatch."

Yeosang holds up the other mask, a pretty standard black leather eyepatch with stitches along it for design purposes. Yunho looks at it, semi-confused.

"Does it not block your vision when you fight?", he asks.

Yeosang shakes his head. "Vision doesn't matter that much when you're fighting vampires, we can hear and sense each other more than anything."

Yunho nods in understanding as Yeosang puts the masks back in his pocket. "Crazy learning more about vampires when you think you know so much. But I guess there's only so much I can know, just being an outsider human looking in."

Yeosang shrugs. "Sometimes I feel like that too, trust me."

He looks over at Yunho who's currently looking down at the few people who are walking down the street below. Yeosang puts his hands on the wooden railing and looks down as well.

"It's funny how small people look from up here", Yunho says.

"It is. Like ants."

"I sometimes wonder if that's how vampires see us humans."

Yeosang looks over at Yunho. "Maybe they do. That's why I've devoted my life to protecting humans from the ones who see them as nothing but food."

"You're a good person, Yeosang", Yunho says, patting the other on the back.

Yeosang smiles lightly as he turns his attention to a woman wearing a particularly bright orange dress. The bright color makes Yeosang feel a bit happier inside. Yunho looks at the building across the street, seeing the faint outline of people inside.

"Well, isn't this a coincidence?", the two of them hear a voice behind them say. The two of them turn around quickly to see Wooyoung standing on top of the air conditioning unit with his arms crossed. Yeosang's eyes widen as he locks eyes with the silver-haired vampire.

Yunho stands there with the same expression, recognizing Wooyoung from the file that he and Yeosang found. He can't do much but just stand there and act as calm as possible.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a coincidence, considering I've been searching for you", Wooyoung says, "But eh."

He quickly jumps down from the air conditioning unit, landing in a squatting position but quickly rebounding himself back up.

"What do you want?", Yeosang asks, moving slightly to cover Yunho a bit better. Wooyoung shifts his eyes over to the taller agent, noticing Yeosang's movements and then looking at Yunho's slightly terrified expression.

"I don't know, Kang Yeosang, what is it that _you_ want?", Wooyoung asks in return. 

Yeosang's eyes widen. "How do you…"

"Asked around, found out a few things about you."

"You don't know anything."

"I intend to find out."

Yeosang looks around, trying to find some way for him and Yunho to escape. The only way he sees is to maneuver around Wooyoung and get to the door...or jump off the roof.

"So tell me, are you a vampire, Yeosang? I've had my doubts but San insists that you are", Wooyoung asks.

"What's it to you?"

"That's a yes, alright."

Wooyoung shifts his eyes back to Yunho. "And who are you?"

"No one", Yeosang says.

"A human if I've ever smelled one. Yeosang, what are you doing hanging around humans?"

"That's none of your business."

"Oh yeah, I forget you work for that good for nothing Bureau. You're around humans all the time."

Yeosang stays silent. Wooyoung shifts his eyes between Yunho and Yeosang quickly before smirking. He super speeds over to Yunho and quickly grabs hold of the back of his head. He pushes the taller boy's head down and slams his head into the wooden railing. Yeosang barely has any time to react before Yunho collapses and Wooyoung drops him.

"What the hell was that for?!", Yeosang screams.

"Did you not plan to make him a meal?", Wooyoung asks.

"What? No!", Yeosang says, scrambling to make sure Yunho was okay.

"So let me get this straight. You willingly spent so much time with a human just to not eat him in the end? What a waste."

"He's my friend!"

"Friend? Our kind doesn't need friends, Yeosang."

Yeosang starts breathing in heavily, feeling for Yunho's pulse. He exhales a bit when he feels, an albeit weak, one.

"How dare you?!", Yeosang yells out.

"How dare I? What about how dare you forsake your own brothers and sisters for some lowly humans. You protect those that hunt your kind."

"None of you mean anything to me. I stick my neck out to protect the weak."

"So you admit humans are weak. You ever heard of survival of the fittest? The weak are nothing more than prey for us. They're food."

"No!"

Yeosang says louder than he's ever raised his voice before. He feels his anger boiling but he tries his best to keep his vampire side from popping up.

"Excuse me?", Wooyoung says.

"You'll never understand. Humans are weak only because vampires make them weak. They can't fight back. So I fight to protect them."

"So you'll fight to protect the ones who would kill you the minute they have a chance to? They would exterminate all of us, regardless of whether we're trying to protect them or kill them, and yet you choose to protect them. All they feel for us is fear."

"They only fear us because we give them reason to fear."

Wooyoung chuckles. "Pathetic."

"I may be, but I'll still fight for the people of this world, no matter what."

The silver-haired vampire's smirk turns into a scowl. He quickly speeds his way to Yeosang.

"You live like a human. So you'll die like a human."

Wooyoung lifts his leg up and kicks Yeosang in the chest as hard as he can. He sends him flying into the railing on the other side of the building.

"Learned that one from your little friend Jongho", Wooyoung says as Yeosang falls to the ground.

Yeosang coughs heavily and he lifts his head up to see Wooyoung standing over Yunho.

"If you're not going to eat him, I will", Wooyoung says. He bends down and grabs Yunho by the back of his jacket. He picks him up with brute force and leans him on the railing.

Yeosang's anger starts expanding by the minute. He takes what strength he has left to reach into his pocket and grabs the eyepatch. He quickly fashions it over his right eye, making sure to cover it all the way. Then, he lifts himself off the ground and lets loose his vampire instinct.

"Put him down", Yeosang says, his visible eye turning a bright red.

Wooyoung looks over at him and sees his angry stature and covered eye. "I guess that confirms the vampire question. What are you covering your eye for?"

"That's none of your business. Now, I'm going to say it again. Put him down. Or else…"

Wooyoung chuckles. "What are you going to do?"

"If you'd like to fight, I'm more than willing to provide that."

The silver-haired vampire smirks, revealing his fangs as his eyes turn red. "You're so naive. You think fighting me is gonna make humans hate you any less? You're in for a rude awakening, Yeosang."

He quickly lets go of Yunho and leaves him slumped over on the ground. Yeosang knows he's at a disadvantage and that Wooyoung could still hurt Yunho.

"You're hesitating", Wooyoung says.

"So are you."

"I was given clear instructions to not kill you right now."

"Too bad I wasn't given those same instructions on you."

Yeosang lunges forward with his superhuman speed and pushes Wooyoung to the side, away from Yunho. Wooyoung flips and lands on his feet as Yeosang blocks Yunho from the younger's view.

"Hm...I think I've learned all I need to know. Until next time, Kang Yeosang."

Wooyoung runs forward and roundhouse kicks Yeosang in the jaw before jumping back onto the air conditioning unit. Yeosang gets shoved back at the brute force of the kick and falls on top of Yunho's unconscious body. He grabs his jaw, feeling a bit of pain but knowing it's not been dislocated. He looks up at Wooyoung, who just smirks at him.

"Remember, Yeosang. They hate us. You'll learn sooner rather than later."

And with that, Wooyoung jumps off the side of the building and disappears. Yeosang looks surprised that he jumped off the building but realizes he's seen vampires jump down from skyscrapers. He rubs at his jaw before jumping up to look down at where Wooyoung just jumped. He doesn't see the vampire anywhere. He sighs and lets his vampire healing take hold as the pain in his jaw start to fade.

It takes a minute for him to realize but his eyes widen as he looks over to his still unconscious friend. He runs over to Yunho.

"Yunho!", he says loudly. He gives him a few light slaps on the cheek in an attempt to wake him up to no avail. He still hears a heartbeat and very weak breathing coming from the other. 

Something in Yeosang snaps. His heart starts racing and his vampire senses start increasing in power. In his initial confusion, he closes his eyes. When he reopens his eyes, he realizes that Yunho is still laying there in front of him. It's in that moment that Yeosang realizes something that he rarely ever thinks about.

Bloodlust. It never hits him as hard as it does the average vampire, and it rarely ever affects him like this. But when he looks down at Yunho, he feels the urge to bleed the man dry.

"No...no...no!", Yeosang says, shutting his eyes, "Why now?"

He swears he hears a voice in his head say, " _Why are you hesitating? You're a vampire, this is what you do. You're more powerful than any of those lowly humans and yet you choose to protect your prey."_

"No!", Yeosang shouts as his eyes fly open. His breathing slows and he slaps himself across the face. He would never even dream of harming anyone, let alone Yunho, in any way. He hates that the vampire instinct causes him to want to kill and hunt. But that's the true reality. He may be half-human, but he is a vampire. 

He looks down at Yunho and can feel tears well up in his eyes. He shakes his head and tries to calm himself down. His main goal right now is to get Yunho to a place where he can get treated.

Yeosang reaches a finger into his own mouth to feel if his fangs are still out. After ensuring that they're not, he lifts Yunho into his arms and quickly makes his way to the door that lead them up here and kicks it open. He runs down the stairs at superhuman speed and makes his way through the lobby of the abandoned building, before making it outside. 

As he slows down to normal speed, albeit still running, he makes his way down the street towards the hospital. His entire focus was on making sure Yunho was going to be okay. He maneuvered his way through the streets and finally saw the sign for the hospital.

He booked it as fast as he could towards the emergency room entrance. He dodged everyone and everything in his way as he ran through the front doors.

"He's hurt", Yeosang says to the woman at the front desk, "Bad. Please help him."

The woman nods and calls someone on the phone. Within a minute, a man comes through the back doors with a gurney. With the man's help, Yeosang is able to get Yunho's unconscious body onto it.

Yeosang feels tears start to form in the corners of his eyes. But he holds them back for the sake of Yunho. The older is wheeled off to the back, with Yeosang following closely behind.

"Yunho…", he says quietly to himself. The man, who Yeosang can now see is a nurse, takes Yunho into the halls and places him along the wall next to a door. There's nurses running around and he can see one behind a desk just 10 feet away.

"I'll go bring the doctor in right away", the nurse says.

Yeosang nods. "Thank you."

"We're probably going to have to ask you to wait in the lobby if we have to perform some scans."

"That's understandable. I will do so when they ask me to go."

The nurse gives him a look of understanding. "Also...do you need someone to look at your eye?"

"My what…" Yeosang reaches up to feel his right eye, which he realizes is still covered by the eyepatch. His eyes widen in realization.

"Oh...uh...no thank you, it was just a minor accident, I'll be fine", Yeosang says, with a smile.

The nurse quickly nods and runs to get the doctor for Yunho. Yeosang turns back to his friend.

"Please be okay, Yunho", Yeosang says taking the other's hand into his, "Please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wooyoung", San says, "What did I say about acting on your own?"

The younger vampire looks down at his feet. "I'm sorry."

"I told you to get information on that boy, not attack him."

"I know, and I did get the info. It's just...something about him irked me."

"What did you learn?"

San sits down in a chair as Wooyoung paces in front of him.

"His name is Kang Yeosang. And he works at the Bureau, obviously. And he cares far too much about the safety of humans, especially his friends."

"Sounds about right. Kang Yeosang…"

"Does the name ring any bells?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it. But I want him in our side, that's our plan for now."

"Understood."

"And what did you mean by he irked you?"

"He seemed so unwilling to let go of his humanity, despite being a vampire, which leads me to believe he's a younger vampire. And a naive one at that."

"Wooyoung, you've been a vampire for 4 years. If anything, you gave up your humanity faster than any vampire I've ever seen."

"I just opened my eyes and realized humanity isn't worth saving if there's a superior species already ready to replace them."

"That's my boy."

San swiftly grabs Wooyoung's hand. He pulls him closer to him and grabs his hips.

"Wooyoung", San says, pulling the younger down so that he's sat in his lap, straddling him. Wooyoung's cheeks start to heat up.

"Yes?", he responds.

"Things are about to get a lot more interesting. I have bigger plans for this clan. And I have bigger plans for you."

Wooyoung tilts his head confused. "What do you-", he starts before he's cut off by a pair of lips being pressed against his.

His eyes widen as he realizes that San is kissing him. The older gently reaches up and rests his hand on the back of Wooyoung's neck. Wooyoung quickly reciprocates, albeit not knowing what brought this on suddenly. Their lips move together in a soft, yet passionate display.

Despite Wooyoung throwing away his humanity and anything of the sort, he couldn't help himself from feeling things from time to time. And right now, he was feeling a warm sensation in his chest, though he was unaware what that meant.

San abruptly pulls away, with Wooyoung in a state of shock. The older smirks, seeing the confused look on the other's face. If anything, San found it amusing. Wooyoung feels his lips tingling as he stared at San's.

"You say you've thrown away your humanity", San says.

Wooyoung looks even more confused at that. "Huh?"

"You've thrown away your humanity, right?"

"Yes, of course I have."

"Emotions are human, Wooyoung. Passion is human."

Wooyoung bites his lip as he feels even more confused, if that was even possible. He opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by San.

"Love is human", San says quickly.

Then it clicks in Wooyoung's head. San was trying to see if he really had let go of his humanity that easily. Wooyoung nods, but he can't stop the look of disappointment from making itself known. "Understood", he says softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been an hour or two since Yeosang was asked to go wait in the lobby of the hospital. He had been patiently waiting, glancing at the TV from time to time, to hear news about Yunho. He had already messaged Seonghwa to tell him that he may not be at the headquarters building when he returned, to which he has yet to get a response to. He was starting to get worried about both Yunho and Seonghwa. He'd just message Jongho but the younger barely used the phone that the Bureau provided him.

_"You said he fell and hit his head on a desk?", the doctor asks, confused._

_"Yeah, he slipped on some coffee and his head hit his desk on the way down", Yeosang lied through his teeth._

Yeosang sighs and pulls off his eyepatch.

After another 20 minutes of waiting, the doors to the back open and a doctor comes into the lobby. His eyes scan around before they land on Yeosang, and he heads over. 

"Kang Yeosang?", the doctor asks.

"That's me", Yeosang responds.

"I'm Dr. Jung. I'm in charge of treating your friend, Yunho. Good news is all his vitals are fine and his scans came back clear. That means no major injury, and even better, no bleeding in the brain or permanent damage caused. And he's woken up now. So he will be clear for release when he signs the forms."

"Okay."

"We couldn't find any immediate family to come pick him up or anything, do you happen to know anyone?"

"Oh uh...I've known Yunho a long time. His parents have been dead for a while and he's lost contact with everyone else in his family. If anything, I'm his family."

The doctor eyes him up and down, clearly a little confused and suspicious. "You work for the Bureau, right?", the doctor asks.

Yeosang looks slightly taken aback, not expecting the question. "Uh...yes, I do. Why?"

The doctor sighs. "Your agents saved my daughter from a vampire attack a couple years ago. I recognize both you and Yunho from the scene. So, I would like to thank you."

Yeosang looks shocked. He didn't expect this to come from the doctor. "It's all apart of the job, sir", Yeosang says.

"I still wanted to say my thanks."

"I appreciate it."

"And are you going to be able to get Yunho home? He can walk just fine now from what I've seen but I'd still keep an eye on him."

Yeosang nods. "Of course, sir. I will be with him for the night."

"Alright, then. You're welcome to come back while the nurse fills out paperwork with Yunho."

Yeosang follows the doctor to the back and he catches sight of the blue hair before anything else.

"Yunho!", Yeosang says, walking up to his friend. Yunho smiles at him as he approaches.

"I'm not going down that easily, Yeosang", Yunho says.

"I'm so glad you're okay, I was worried sick."

"Doctor told me you were here the whole time."

"Of course I was, it was basically my fault you got put here in the first place."

Yunho turns his attention to the paper that he's supposed to be signing and grabs a pen. "No, it's not, I should have been more careful."

"I still feel awful. I shouldn't have let Wooyoung get to you like that."

Yunho turns back to him and gives him a silent look of "don't talk about vampire business here". Yeosang nods in understanding.

"Don't worry, Yeosang. My skill is as thick as my ego."

"Wow, that's pretty thick indeed."

Yunho gives him a light slap on the arm. Yeosang laughs lightly as Yunho signs the last of his papers and gives them back to the nurse behind the desk.

"You ready to go?", Yeosang asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be", Yunho responds.

The two grab their belongings and thank the nurses before heading out the double doors, then to the outside.

Wooyoung watches from the corner as Yunho and Yeosang leave the hospital. He sees the doctor coming towards where he's standing and makes his move. The silver-haired vampire steps in front of the doctor and looks him in the eyes. He smirks slightly as he seems the doctors expression turn neutral. Wooyoung then notices the clipboard in his hands.

"Doctor, is that the file on Kang Yeosang's blue-haired friend?", he asks. 

The doctor nods, face unmoving. Wooyoung then leans over to look at the clipboard.

"Jeong Yunho", Wooyoung says, reading over the clipboard, "Thanks, doc."

Wooyoung waves his hand and walks away, freeing the doctor from the trance. He got what he came there for. The doctor shakes his head slightly confused, but ultimately decides to let it go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa returns to the Bureau, now replenished with blood from an unfortunate suicide victim that he found. Quickly after, he called it in to report the body and the police should be on the way there soon. As he enters the cubicles office, he notices a lack of noise coming from the corner where his cubicle is. Typically, there's noise coming from either Yeosang or Yunho but it was suspiciously quiet. He goes over to check and sees them both gone.

"Huh?", Seonghwa says, raising an eyebrow. He pulls out his phone to text Yeosang before noticing he got a text from the other earlier. Received 3 hours ago.

_Seonghwa, Wooyoung attacked me and Yunho. Yunho was badly hurt and I had to take him to the hospital, but I was able to drive Wooyoung off before he could kill either of us. I'm so worried about Yunho. I'll update when we get back to the Bureau. Let me know when you get this._

He read over it again. He had been so busy with his hunt, he hadn't even noticed that he got a text. 

"Oh my god", Seonghwa says, staring at the screen.

He messages back in a hurry. _Are you guys okay? What's happened with Yunho? Are you hurt too?_

He hears a song behind him before someone says, "No, we're fine."

Seonghwa turns around quickly to see Yeosang standing there, looking at his phone screen, with Yunho standing behind him.

"Oh my god", Seonghwa says, "You guys worried me to death."

"As if you're not already dead, Seonghwa", Yeosang says, sarcastically.

Seonghwa smiles as he turns to Yunho. "I heard you got hurt by Wooyoung? Are you okay?"

"I'm stronger than you'd think, Seonghwa, just a good old possible concussion. Nothing major."

"That's great." Seonghwa looks like he let out a breath. 

"I talked to Yunho about it on the walk back but he's gonna be staying with us tonight."

"That sounds good to me", Seonghwa says, "We need to have everyone accounted for. Who knows who Wooyoung and San are after at this point."

Yeosang shrugs. "They change who they're after like Yunho changes hair colors."

Yunho feigns a look of offense. "I will have you know I've only changed it 3 times this year."

"Down from your record of 12 colors last year", Yeosang retorts.

"How are you not bald?", Seonghwa asks.

"I ask myself that too", Yunho says.

"Well, I'm gonna go collect Jongho so you guys wait here", Seonghwa says.

"Shouldn't I go get some clothes or something?", Yunho asks.

"It's probably best if you just take it easy, I have some clothes you can borrow. I bought some extra long pants by accident that will fit nicely."

"Haha, so funny", Yunho deadpans.

Seonghwa walks off to go find Jongho, leaving Yeosang alone with Yunho.

"I know I keep saying this but I really am sorry, Yunho."

"Stop apologizing. It's not your fault. It's Wooyoung's."

"I know but I still feel guilty dragging you all the way up there just to get attacked."

Yunho puts his hand on Yeosang's shoulder. "Once again, Yeosang, you don't have have to be sorry."

Within a minute or so, Seonghwa comes back dragging Jongho by the arm. The younger was carrying a duffle bag in his left hand. "I was dragged away from watching Chief duty", Jongho says.

"Are you guys ready?", Seonghwa asks the two in front of him, ignoring Jongho. Yeosang and Yunho nod.

"Let's go", Yeosang says, "It's only a couple blocks walk."

Jongho groans. He opens his duffle bag and pulls out his hat and sunglasses. He puts the hat on his head and puts his sunglasses on as Seonghwa reaches under his desk to pull out a backpack filled with his stuff. With that, Yeosang leads the group out the doors of the Bureau onto the street. He turns right when they get outside as the others follow.

"I never knew you lived so close", Yunho says, "I usually have to drive here."

"Mine is a good 6 blocks walk", Seonghwa says.

"Sucks to be you guys, I live 5 floors up from work", Jongho says.

The other 3 groan as Jongho laughs. "There's no need to one up us", Yunho says, "I'd never be late to work if I was in your spot."

"I mean...I don't have any other place to stay so it's my only option."

"Have you slept over at someone else's house before?"

Jongho shakes his head. "Even before my parents uh...died, I wasn't very popular. I've never been over someone's place to sleep before."

"I wish we could make this a more exciting sleepover, but we're old men who have to go to bed early for work so…", Yeosang chimes in.

"Oh, trust me, you guys show your age", Jongho says.

"I'm only 25", Yunho says.

"I'm 24", Yeosang says.

"I'm 230", Seonghwa says.

They all stop walking to look at Seonghwa, confused. The oldest holds up his hands defensively. "Hey, just saying", he says.

Yeosang rolls his eyes as he turns around to keep walking. The others follow suit. They continue to make conversation on the way to the other side of the block.

By the time they reach Yeosang's house, it's already dark out. They quickly make their way to the front door, trying to avoid any confrontation with vampires. Yeosang sticks his keys in the lock and turns it. He pushes the door open as the 4 of them file into the foyer.

"I am exhausted", Yunho says as Yeosang closes the door.

"Aw, Yunho, I was hoping we could stay up all night braiding each other's hair and talk about boys", Yeosang says.

Yunho gives him a death glare as Jongho runs passed all of them and throws himself into the couch in the living room.

"I see Jongho's found himself at home", Seonghwa says.

"Leave me be, peasants", Jongho says.

"You gonna be okay?", Yeosang asks.

"Yeah, I don't think I can sleep anyway", Jongho says, "I'm just gonna stay up for a bit and if I feel tired, I'll just crash on this couch here. Is that cool?"

Yeosang just chuckles. "Yeah, sounds good. Goodnight, Jongho."

"Can I use your TV?"

"Sure."

"Yay!"

Jongho picks up the remote and starts scrolling through the channels. He turns to Yeosang. "Premium channels", he says, "Nice."

Yeosang then looks over to Yunho and Seonghwa, signalling for them to keep following him. He leaves Jongho to his own devices in the living room. He leads them down the hallway into a room right across from the bathroom.

"Guest room", Yeosang says softly as they enter. He flips the light switch on, showing the room to his two remaining guests. It was a pretty standard room, with a bed, a dresser, and a small vanity. There was a closet door on the far end of the room. Other than that, the room was pretty empty.

"This room is rarely used", Yeosang says, "We don't get many guests."

"That bed looks so nice right now", Yunho says. The two vampires look over at him, already sensing how tired he is, considering he had his head smashed into a building.

"Go ahead and lay down, Yunho", Yeosang says, pulling up the covers for him to get under. Yunho immediately makes his way into the bed and rests his head on the pillow. He gets set up in the bed and Yeosang tucks him in as best as he could. Yeosang could already see the tech analyst's eyes starting to flutter shut.

"Goodnight, Yunho", Yeosang says softly.

"Night", Yunho says, already half-asleep.

Yeosang quietly makes his way out of the room. He almost closes the door when something stops the door from closing. He looks back to see Seonghwa blocking the door with his body. A pang of guilt washes over him as he realizes he forgot about his partner for a moment.

"Seonghwa, I'm sorry, I forgot to set you up", Yeosang whispers.

"Oh um...I think it's best if we let him sleep alone in there for now. He's injured."

"Oh?"

Yeosang then realizes something. "I don't have anywhere else for you."

"Do you not have any more rooms here?"

"Only my mom's but that's not happening so...only mine."

"Do you mind?"

Yeosang's eyes widen. It's not like Seonghwa hasn't slept in his room before but it's the first time in 5 years...he doesn't know how to feel. But he can't just deny Seonghwa a place to sleep.

"I mean...I guess."

Yeosang turns around suddenly and begins walking even further down the hall, with Seonghwa following after. After a couple seconds, he stops when they reach another door. He opens the door and turns the light on to reveal another bedroom. This one had more stuff on the walls, including old paintings and posters. On the wall next to Yeosang's bed, Seonghwa notices a BTS poster. Next to that poster, was a painting of a flower that his mother had painted a few years back.

Seonghwa almost feels tears well up in his eyes. "It's just like I remember it in here", he says.

Yeosang turns to look at him. His partner drops his bag on the floor and walks toward the bed. 

"Are you okay, Seonghwa?", Yeosang asks.

"I'm sorry", Seonghwa says, "Everything is just coming back to me."

Yeosang grabs the chair from his desk and pulls it over next to the bed. But before he could sit down, he feels something wrap around his body. He turns his head to see Seonghwa's body pressed against his and his arms wrapped around him in a hug. The younger looks shocked as Seonghwa's grip tightens. Yeosang slowly brings his arms up to wrap around Seonghwa's shoulders.

Seonghwa pushes away suddenly before Yeosang can tighten his arms, however. Yeosang sees the look of shock on the other's face. "I...I'm so sorry", Seonghwa says.

"For what?", Yeosang asks. Seonghwa falls silent as he sits down on the bed.

"I...I don't know", he finally says after a minute of silence.

"What's going through your head?"

"So much. Too much."

Seonghwa grips the sides of his head, as if something is too loud for him. "Seonghwa?", Yeosang calls out.

As if a switch went off in his head, Seonghwa stops. And when he lifts his head up, he has a cold, dead expression on his face. Yeosang recognizes it as the one he saw the other wearing for the last year.

"Seong...hwa?", Yeosang says.

"I'm fine", Seonghwa says, his expression relaxing a bit as he says it.

"Are you sure?"

"Everything seems so different. It's so surreal. I don't feel dead like I've been feeling for the last 5 years. I'm just not used to it, it takes time."

Yeosang nods, sensing that there's more, but not wanting to press for more. Something for another time.

"Remember I'm always here to talk", Yeosang says.

Seonghwa nods softly. Yeosang hadn't seen the older look so vulnerable since the day he left the Bureau. It was mind blowing but at the same time, he felt that the Seonghwa he fell in love with was still in there under the dark aura he always wore.

"Seonghwa", Yeosang says. The older looks at him. 

"Yes?"

"I need to go check on my mom, okay?"

"Yeah, of course."

Yeosang stands up from his chair and makes his way to the door. He looks back the brunette currently sitting on his bed, looking down at his crossed legs.

He opens the door, walks out, and closes it just as quickly. He lets out a loud sigh as he makes his way across the hall to his mom's room. He turns the handle and peeks his head in. His mom is fast asleep in the bed, looking peaceful. Yeosang smiles as he pulls the door back to its original position.

Yeosang turns around and heads back to his own room. He pushes the door open, and steps back in. He still sees Seonghwa in the same position he left him.

"I'm back", Yeosang says.

"That was quick."

"I didn't wanna disturb her sleep."

Seonghwa gives a slight nod of understanding as Yeosang comes over to sit back down in his chair. Thoughts of the day wash over Yeosang, who ends up staring at the ground. Seonghwa looks up to see the younger, stiff as he just stares off.

"What's wrong?", he asks. 

Yeosang barely hears Seonghwa's voice but it cuts through his thoughts and he realizes he's just been staring at the ground. He shakes his head. "Oh...nothing. I was thinking about the whole Yunho thing."

"Yunho's fine now. You don't have to worry anymore."

"No...it's not about that."

"Then what?"

Yeosang turns to look at Seonghwa's face. The other was staring directly at him, clearly intently listening. Yeosang starts visibly shaking, confusing Seonghwa.

"He told me I was human to him…", Yeosang says.

"And what's the problem with that?"

Yeosang takes a deep breath and releases it. Guilt burns in his chest as he opens his mouth again. "After Yunho got knocked out and I had the confrontation with Wooyoung, something awoke inside of me."

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "Explain."

"I...I tried to bite Yunho, Seonghwa. My bloodlust hit at the wrong time and I seriously considered drinking from him. He was unconscious and my brain told me he could do nothing to stop me...it was awful. So awful. I feel awful."

Seonghwa's mouth opens slightly in surprise. "I…"

"Yeah. I kept apologizing for it to Yunho but he doesn't even know it happened. He thinks I'm apologizing for getting him tangled up with Wooyoung in the first place."

"Do you want to bite him?"

"What? Of course not."

"Then you can't blame yourself, you held yourself back", Seonghwa says, "If anything that shows you're stronger than your vampire side. And that you're not willing to lose your humanity just yet. It shows you don't want to hurt people."

"Of course I don't", Yeosang says, "I'm a Bureau agent, would I be that if I wanted to hurt people?"

"You're good, Yeosang. Even if you feel swayed sometimes. All vampires feel pressured or even instinctively feel the need to be animalistic. Some of them lose their sense of selves. But some of them are able to control it, they're able to help others. Like you."

"Like _us_ , I think you mean. Me, you, and Jongho are scrutinized in the vampire community. No one likes us."

"I don't care if no one likes me. I'll still make sure they get home safe everyday regardless. That's just how I am. That's why I came back to the Bureau."

"I just...don't know."

"Did...Wooyoung say something to you?"

"I...yeah."

"What was it?"

"He...he told me...that it's not worth it protecting humans and that I was only protecting them in a vain attempt to keep my humanity."

Seonghwa loudly sighs. "He's wrong. We protect them because we feel like it, not because we need to prove something."

"But I don't know if I'm trying to prove something."

"Never feel like you need to prove something to anyone. Not Wooyoung. Not any vampire. Not even any human. Not me. You only ever need to please yourself."

"I don't care about validation, or pleasing others. But something inside me keeps telling me I'm a fraud."

"Trust me, I have that too. It's that vampire instinct eating away at your brain, telling you to give in."

"I heard that when I almost bit Yunho. But I pushed it back. That's what's important, right?"

"Of course. You're strong. Remember that."

Seonghwa smiles at him and gives him a reassuring nod.

"Thank you, Seonghwa", Yeosang says.

"Anytime."

Seonghwa lifts up the covers and puts his legs underneath it before laying down. He shifts for a second, trying to get comfortable.

"Are you going to be okay?", Seonghwa asks. Yeosang nods.

"I'll be fine", Yeosang responds, "Sometimes being a vampire really sucks.

"Tell me about it."

Yeosang let's out a soft laugh to which Seonghwa smiles at. 

"Who's watching over Chief, tonight?", Yeosang asks.

"He can handle himself for now. I told him to ring is if anything happens and to set the alarm. Luckily, he lives right down the street. I invited him to come stay with us but he insisted he stays in his own house and who am I to argue with my boss?"

Yeosang sighs and says, "I mean, I guess."

"We should probably try and get some sleep. We still have to go and find evidence of San and Wooyoung being the perpetrators."

"You're right. But I don't sleep, I haven't been able to in a while."

"Do you just stay awake all the time?"

Yeosang nods. "Pretty much."

"Doesn't that get boring?"

"Sometimes but I manage."

"You should try to sleep anyway, it's nice sometimes."

"If only it were that easy."

"Here."

Seonghwa pats the bed next to him. Yeosang looks at the spot and then looks back up at Seonghwa.

"Here what?", he asks.

"Lay down, stupid", Seonghwa says in return. The older was already snuggled up into Yeosang's blankets, ready to go to sleep.

"You want me to...lay down...with you?"

"I just want you to lay down. The fact that I'm here is just a bonus."

Seonghwa playfully winks at the younger. Yeosang doesn't know if the other realizes that his small action means much more than he realizes. He can feel a blush creeping up on his cheeks but decides to just slam his body down onto the bed to avoid Seonghwa seeing it.

"Yay", Seonghwa says.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm only doing this because I have nothing better to do."

"Sure. Now get under the covers."

Yeosang groans in exasperation and pulls the blankets up before sliding under. "Are you happy now?"

"Quite", Seonghwa says, lifting his head to look Yeosang in the eyes. The younger can barely being himself to look at the other. Yeosang told himself already that he didn't want to allow his feelings to get in the way of anything anymore and that he didn't love Seonghwa anymore. So why is the feeling in his chest telling him otherwise?

When Yeosang looks to see Seonghwa smiling down at him, he confirms it. Yep, he was still in love with Park Seonghwa. And he hated it.

"Goodnight, Seonghwa", Yeosang says, rolling over to face away from the older.

"Goodnight", he hears come from Seonghwa. He also hears Seonghwa shift around to where he felt the other's body pressed flush against his back. Yeosang would normally complain but he decided to just let it be. It was the first time in 5 years that he hadn't slept alone. It was nice, he supposed, to have a warm body next to him. Well, as warm as a vampire can get.

Yeosang closes his eyes and feels himself drifting off. And for the first time in a long time, he did something he thought was impossible for him anymore.

He dreamed.


	9. Malevolence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new crime scene, unlikely scenarios, and a feeling of unease still lingering. Jongho throws himself into the ring as Yeosang meets with an unlikely person.

_Yeosang stands, completely stiff as Seonghwa stands 10 feet in front of him._

_The red eyes and sharp teeth that he caught him with have turned back to normal._

_"Babe, I…", Seonghwa starts._

_"How are you going to talk your way out of this one, Seonghwa? You can't."_

_Seonghwa shakes his head. "I'm so sorry, Yeosang. I didn't want you to find out like this."_

_"Find out that you're a vampire? The kind that we investigate and hunt on the daily?"_

_"You think I wanted to be like this?!", Seonghwa says, loudly, "Normal human food tastes like shit to me and it makes me sick, standing in direct sunlight for too long can kill me, and I have to eat people just to survive! Who would want that?!"_

_Yeosang goes silent before starting to turn around to walk away. Seonghwa speaks up, trying to stop him._

_"You can't go off alone at night", Seonghwa says, "The bloodsuckers are after any meal they can get."_

_"There's one standing in front of me", Yeosang says, "One I would prefer to not see right now."_

_"Yeosang-"_

_Seonghwa is cut off as Yeosang turns away from him and starts to run. The words are caught in his throat as he starts to reach his hand out to try and stop him before he stops himself. He stumbles over himself as Yeosang gets further and further from his sight._

_Yeosang turns the corner quickly when he reaches the next street. He stops for a second to take a breather and to look behind him. There was no one and nothing there. Tears that were threatening to spill begin to make themselves known again._

_Seonghwa is a vampire, Yeosang thinks to himself. The man you've spent your entire adult life with is a vampire. And you never even knew._

_He can sense Seonghwa following him and knows that the other is faster than him. So he makes the quick and easy decision to turn into an alley. He makes his way in quickly before taking a breather. He just keeps walking before he notices a man walking towards him. Something feels off to him._

_As he walks down the alley, he tenses up as the man comes closer to him. It increases with every step they each take. On the other hand, the man barely seems to notice him. Yeosang holds his breath as the two get close enough to brush shoulders._

_The man, whose face was covered by a hood, casually walks by Yeosang. The younger then laughs to himself lightly as he thinks to himself that he's being ridiculous. What was he worried about? Was he that distrustful of people? The younger feels relief wash over him as he disappears from his sight._

_That relief is short-lived however, when he feels a hand grab his shoulder violently. Yeosang quickly retracts his previous statements from his mind. He's forcefully turned around to see the same man, this time his face not obscured by the hood. Yeosang, however, noticed the man is wearing a small red mask around his eyes. He also notices the man's eyes are a bright, glowing red._

_Yeosang feels his blood go cold and his body starts stiffening. He can't move his body, and his mind starts going hazy. He's confused, not knowing what's going on. He gets the idea, however, when he sees the man smirk._

_It hits him. He's trapped._

Sirens blare as Yeosang and Seonghwa arrive on the scene of the latest murder. The younger puts his gloves on calmly as Seonghwa takes the lead in moving towards the caution tape. They both present their badges a usual and are let through without question.

Yeosang crouches down to get a look at the body as Seonghwa stays standing, looking around a bit. The body looks similar to the others, looking completely drained and with blood all over the place. The face was mostly missing just like all the others as well. As Yeosang examines the bite marks on the victim's neck, he notices something.

"Seonghwa", Yeosang says. The other agent looks down to see what the matter was.

"Yes?", Seonghwa responds.

"When was this body found?"

"Less than an hour ago."

"At all the other crime scenes, the blood was fresh and it was still wet when we got here."

"What's your point?"

"The blood here is dry. It's been sitting for a while."

"So you're saying that...it didn't take longer than usual for them to kill again."

"It just took us longer to find the body."

"That means since it took us two days to find the body…"

"We only have a day until the next killing."

Seonghwa nods. He always tried his best to keep his composure out on the field, but sometimes it got hard.

"We have to go back to the Bureau and figure out where they're going to strike next before it becomes too late."

"Do we have all the evidence we need?"

"We should be receiving pictures from the other agents soon. Yunho's back over there fiddling with the security cameras and Mingi is writing down notes. The other two should be submitting pictures and evidence before we return."

"Then let's get going."

The two of them head back to the car and quickly drive off towards the Bureau, not wasting any time.

As they get back into the office, Yeosang goes to his desk and Seonghwa goes to evidence collection. They both silently agree to meet back up in a few minutes.

Yeosang sits down at his computer and begins looking over his notes from the case. He knows that they're crunched for time, especially since it took them so long to find the last body. It's not long before a manilla folder is dropped onto this keyboard from above.

"These are the photos as usual", Seonghwa says. He walks away for a second and comes back with another chair. Yeosang opens the file and is greeted with a gruesome photo of the corpse on the first page.

"I've seen too many of these for it to be healthy for my mental health", Yeosang says.

"I feel you."

Seonghwa plays around with a pen on Yeosang's desk as the latter flips through the pages of the file. The older is quieter than usual as he sits there patiently, waiting for Yeosang to say something.

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at the picture that showed a close-up of the bite marks on the victim's arm. "Seonghwa, can you get me the file for the body we found before this one?"

Seonghwa looks up and processes the question slowly. Eventually, he nods and gets up to go retrieve the file. 

He comes back with another manilla folder and hands it over to Yeosang. "Here."

Yeosang takes the folder out of the other's hands and opens it up quickly. "Thank you."

"Why did you need it?"

"Something about these bite marks on the arm in these photos intrigued me."

"How so?"

Yeosang flipped between the two pictures, paying specific attention to the bite marks on the arms.

"These bite marks look strangely similar…"

"What do you mean?"

"They...they look like mine."

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "Are you implying that you...did this?"

Yeosang's eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head. "No, that's not it at all. I would never."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying…"

"You're saying…"

Yeosang takes a deep breath in and quickly releases it.

"I think we might be dealing with a half-vampire."

Seonghwa's eyes widen. He didn't know that half-vampires besides Yeosang even existed, let alone how one would be in the same town without anyone noticing. "I...didn't know there were other half-vampires."

"I'm not a one-off, there has to be more and the way the evidence piles up, I'm thinking it's a half-vampire."

"How do you know it's a half-vampire?"

"I'm not saying I'm 100% sure but if anyone knows half-vampires, it's me."

"Then why do you think it's a half-vampire?"

"See, a half-vampire's teeth a bit more dull than the average vampire. They're not as sharp so it's harder to pierce the skin when you're trying to drink."

"Huh...I never knew that."

Yeosang opens the file and pulls out a picture of the body they just examined at the scene. He points to the marks on the arm. "You can see here that it obviously was much harder to pierce the skin here. It's messier, it's almost as if they tore the skin rather than pierced it. That's usually how it is for me, too. So I figured it's a half-vampire."

Seonghwa nods. "That actually makes a lot of sense. I was wondering why it looked so much messier when the other one looked so clean. I thought it was because the ones on the arm came from a younger vampire but even then, it's extremely messy even for a newly turned."

Yeosang closes his eyes and reopens them. His left eye quickly turns bright red. He then opens mouth to show Seonghwa his fangs. "Do you see it? It's a bit dull compared to any vampire I've ever seen. Makes it annoying when you're trying to get a quick bite but I guess that's where the half-human part kicks in."

Seonghwa gets a bit closer and looks at the other's fangs. "Yeah, they do look a bit dull compared to others I've seen. Honestly, I don't even know how sharp mine are because I can't see myself in a mirror. But I assume they're standard."

Yeosang retracts his fangs and his eye turns back to its normal color. He nods softly. "What do you think? Do you think it's a half-vampire?"

"I'm going to take your word for it. You're my partner after all, and you know half-vampires better than anyone here, obviously."

Yeosang nods. "But that wouldn't match up with the current suspects."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the current suspects are San, who we still haven't found in the system yet, and Jung Wooyoung. And neither of them are half-vampires. We saw them both with two eyes glowing."

"Oh." Seonghwa's eyes widen slightly as he reaches his hand up to stroke his chin.

"Yeah, so we would have to eliminate the possibility of them being the perpetrators."

"I wouldn't rule them out just yet. I have a feeling they're involved somehow."

Yeosang sighs. "You're right. Especially after what Wooyoung did to Yunho, and San following Chief...I feel like they're not quite done yet."

Seonghwa nods. "We'll have to keep looking in the case that they're not the ones who killed all these people."

"I think that's all we can do for now."

As they wrap up looking over the daily evidence, Seonghwa and Yeosang go their separate ways, but both with a sense of dread that there's a link that they're missing. A link that could lead to the case being solved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung clicks his tongue in frustration as he feels anger boil up in the back of his mind.

"Do I really matter here?", he asks himself, "What is this feeling? I feel like I'm being...used..."

He stands up and storms out of the room, going out to find his newest victim.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho types away at his computer, with Wooyoung's profile on the screen in the corner. Jongho flips through the case file, trying to find even more information on it. He might not have told Yeosang or Seonghwa that he was on the case yet but he was determined to help out as much as he can.

"Seonghwa doesn't exist in the database either", Yunho says softly as Jongho looks up at the screen. He sees that Yunho's typed in _Park Seonghwa_ into the search bar with 7 results coming up, none of them being their Seonghwa.

"That's because he's hundreds of years old, Yunho."

"Exactly. So San must be as old, if not older, than Seonghwa. Because San isn't in the database either. Wooyoung is, however."

"Wooyoung is in the database? No one told me anything about that."

"Yeah, he is."

Yunho widens Wooyoung's profile sitting in the corner of his screen so that Jongho can see it.

"Hm...according to this, he's only a few months older than me."

Yunho turns back to the screen to read the date of birth, which he didn't really pay attention to when he found the profile. "My god, you're right."

"That means he must be a fairly young vampire, right? Vampires stay the age they were when they turned, after all."

Yunho nods. "He must be pretty young, but old enough to have glowing red eyes instead of the yellow ones newly turned have."

Jongho wears a confused expression as he turns to Yunho. "How do you know about that?"

"How do I know about what?"

"That newly turned vampires have yellow eyes."

Yunho stops for a second, but knows that if his expression morphs too wildly, Jongho might be able to guess his...side business job. It was much too soon for the young vampire to know.

"Oh uh...Seonghwa told me."

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "He did?"

Yunho nods. "He did. And that's how I know that Wooyoung is at least 6 months old."

"Wait...you're telling me I'm gonna have these yellow eyes for another 5 months?"

Yunho laughs softly. "Is it that bad?"

"Hard for vampires to take me seriously when I look less like a threat and more like I have yellow fever or something."

"Who cares if they take you seriously? They don't take anyone seriously. Don't let it bother you."

Jongho nods softly. "You're right."

"Now, let's get back to some research. I'm gonna look more into Wooyoung. What are you up to?"

"I swear I'm missing something here. I'm so close to figuring it out. These pictures from the crime scene. They're odd."

"Hm?"

Jongho looks over the case files again, looking at every single detail. He finally notices something is amiss on the last body compared to the rest of them, and that something is off about the pictures. His eyes widen in realization.

"Yunho, did Yeosang and Seonghwa happen to mess with the crime scene at all?"

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "Not that I know of, why?"

"Were they the only ones with the body when these pictures were taken?"

"Actually, no. 2 other agents, along with Mingi and myself, were out there, collecting information as well."

"Why were you and Mingi out there? You're desk agents."

"Mingi was sent by Chief to write the reports that Yeosang and Seonghwa kept neglecting to write. He's had field training so he's fine. And I had to try to get into the security cameras directly. It didn't work, something was jamming them."

Jongho nodded and pulled out two photos from the file. "Okay. Yunho, out of all of you, I don't know why but I feel I can trust you the most."

"What do you mean?"

Jongho lays the two photos out in front of him. "If you see here, there's photos were taken within 5 minutes of each other. They're both of the same crime scene, same body, same people. But look here."

The younger points to a spot next to the body in the first picture, showing a knife laying there. And then moves to the next picture where the knife is gone.

"There was no knife submitted for evidence. But it's clearly there in the first picture. So where is this knife now?"

"That's...strange. Do you think it's still at the crime scene?"

Jongho shakes his head. "I had agents sweep the area clean. No sign of a knife anywhere. It was taken, no doubt about it now."

"What are you saying?"

"I think someone tampered with the evidence."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mingi", Hongjoong says, calling for his secretary. Mingi gets up from his desk and walks over to the Chief's.

"Yes?", Mingi asks.

"You've been quiet today, I just wanted to check on you."

Hongjoong smiles and Mingi blushes slightly. He doesn't know how to respond so he just says, "Just...tired."

"Please get some more sleep", Hongjoong says, "My favorite Mingi is a peppy Mingi."

The secretary nods and tries to hide the blush on his face as he walks away from the desk.

"Before I forget", Hongjoong says, stopping him. Mingi looks back and then walks toward the desk again. Hongjoong hands him a flash drive.

"I need some copies of these, can you do that?", the Chief asks.

Ming nods. "My specialty", he says.

Hongjoong chuckles lightly, making Mingi feel something in his chest. It confuses him but he brushes it off.

"20 copies please", Hongjoong says as Mingi makes his way towards the door.

"Of course", Mingi says as he opens the door and heads out. He looks back at Hongjoong, who is now paying attention to his computer. He sighs before closing the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang walks into a club that he went to every once in a while. He likes to unwind from work and drink a few drinks, even if it takes forever to get his vampire body to feel even slightly intoxicated.

As usual, it's quite busy but not packed. The bright, flashing lights are blinding and there's people all over the dance floor and in the booths along the walls. Yeosang quickly makes his way over to the bar to see his bartender friends.

When he reaches the bar, a blonde male quickly turns around to see him. "Yeosang! It's been so long", the blonde says.

"Chan! What's been up with you?", Yeosang responds.

"Nothing much, just tending the bar as always."

"Does it get boring?"

"You ask that every time. And I'll continue to say no."

"And then you'll give me your whole speech on how here you meet so many people a day and every person seems like an adventure, yeah yeah, you've told me."

"I'm not wrong though."

Yeosang shakes his head. "You're not."

"So, what can I get you today?"

"Coke and rum, make it a double."

"Coming up."

Chan turns around to start making the drink as Yeosang looks around the rest of the club. The DJ was playing club remixes of 2000s kpop songs and most of the girls on the floor were intoxicated beyond comprehension.

"Same as always", he says under his breath.

Chan turns back around within a few seconds and slides a drink across the bar. "You want to start a tab?" 

"Naw." Yeosang says, sliding some bills back across the counter.

"Alright."

"Keep the change."

Chan nods and Yeosang grabs his drink, before turning to walk away. He walks closer to the walls, trying to find an empty booth to sit in, or at least an interesting character that he could start a conversation with.

As he looks, he notices a familiar head of hair peeking out from around the booth. He goes closer to investigate before getting close enough to see the black and red on the other's head. The man lifts head up to show the face of San.

"Kang Yeosang", San says, "What a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you here."

Yeosang's eyes widen as he locks eyes with the other, clearly not expecting to see him there. "San", he says under his breath.

The black and red haired vampire crosses his legs and tilts his head curiously. He smirks. "What? Not happy to see me?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you're following me?"

"Me? Oh, no. A man can't just enjoy a drink every now and then? And look at a handsome boy at the bar?"

Yeosang subconsciously feels himself slightly blush at the compliment. But he keeps his composure, nonetheless. "No?"

San picks up his glass from the table and takes a sip. "It's good stuff."

"Cut the crap, San", Yeosang says, slamming a hand on the table in front of the other, "What are you playing at?"

"I don't play, Yeosang", San says, "I only win."

"What does that mean?"

San's smirk widens. "Sit with me."

Yeosang can't help but scoff. "You're kidding right? Don't be ridiculous."

"There is no joke, Yeosang, I merely wish to make conversation with you."

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at the statement. "Why would _you_ want to have a conversation with _me_? Mister big and powerful vampire wants to talk to a Bureau agent?"

San nods. "Indeed, I do. Take a seat as you please."

Yeosang's eyes follow San's hand gestures to the seat across from him. The vampire smiles. Yeosang nervously decides to just play along, making his way over the other side of the booth. He gets into the small space and sits down, avoiding looking at San, instead choosing to look down at the table.

"Now was that so hard?", San asks swirling his cocktail around his glass. Yeosang just sits back. He crosses his arms as San takes a sip.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well...how has your day been?"

Yeosang almost laughs at the question. "You're serious?"

"Mhm."

"You have the power to ask me, a Bureau agent, your enemy, anything at all, and yet you want to ask me how my day has been?"

"Yes, actually, I do. What did you expect me to ask?"

Yeosang lays his hands on the table. "I don't know. What my secret missions are, where Seonghwa is, any information about the Bureau at all, something like that."

San shrugs. "Now why would I do that? It's not like you'd give any information up anyway. Plus I have my own sources, I don't need to hear them from you. And also, Seonghwa is not my priority anymore."

Yeosang nods at the first one before his expression changes at the last two. "Wait...what sources? And what do you mean Seonghwa is not your priority?"

San laughs lightly as he takes yet another sip of his drink. "I can't tell you about where I get my information, dear Yeosang. And it's exactly as I said. He is not my priority."

"He seemed to be your priority when you cornered him in that alleyway."

"Priorities change, Yeosang."

"So, what's your priority now?"

It's not like Yeosang expected an answer. He would never tell anything to San so he didn't expect it in return. He also didn't expect when San lifts his hand up and reaches across the table to lay his hand across Yeosang's.

"It's you", San says, rubbing his thumb across Yeosang's hand. The younger's eyes widen at the other's statement, and he doesn't even notice San's hand on his.

"W...What?"

"It's you, Yeosang, you're my priority."

"What...does that mean?"

"I want you to join ATEEZ."

Something rings a bell in Yeosang's head and suddenly he snaps back to reality. He looks down at his and San's hands held together and his face morphs into one of disgust. He quickly snatches his hands off the table, away from San.

"ATEEZ? What?"

"It's my group. We could use more people like you. Strong and powerful, yet lacking that extra step to become the best you can be."

Yeosang tilts his head slightly. "Is this the...clan or...cult that Seonghwa told me about?"

"We are a clan, yes. But a cult, huh? That's a bit cold, I suppose."

"ATEEZ…", Yeosang says under his breath. San hears it however.

"Indeed. We create a sense of community. We stick with each other, through it all."

"Sounds like propaganda to me."

"Think of it as you please. But I saw the change in your face when I mentioned the name ATEEZ. Familiar to you?"

"I...swear I've heard it somewhere before."

San shrugs. "We've been around the block a few times."

Yeosang looks up to make eye contact with San. He swears he feels the vampire's sharp eyes pierce into his soul. "I...uh…"

"Take all the time to think that you need, Yeosang. It's all on you. It's all _about_ you."

"But...you don't even know anything about me. Why would you want me to join your group?"

San chuckles. "Oh, trust me. I know more about you than you think, Kang Yeosang."

"Like what?"

"Like...you know it's too bad."

"What is?"

"It's such a shame that a pretty face like yours had to end up being half-human."

Yeosang's eyes widen as San takes another sip from his almost empty drink. "How did you…"

San smiles and stands up. "It was nice talking with you, Yeosang. We will meet again, I guarantee you that."

Yeosang is still reeling from the shock. He never told anyone outside of the Bureau that he was only half-vampire, and even then very few people actually know. And he's always careful to put on his eyepatch on before a fight. By the time he's recovered however, San is gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Remember, we have to give what we found to Yeosang and Seonghwa tomorrow so they can analyze it, too", Yunho says.

Jongho nods and starts to look around. Yunho looks at him curiously. "Something wrong?", he asks.

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?", Jongho asks as he closes up his files for the night.

"What do you mean?", Yunho asks, packing his stuff into his bag so he can close out his shift.

"The whole time we were working on these files...I felt like someone was watching me."

"It was probably just a feeling. We should be fine here."

Jongho nods lightly. "You're right. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Yunho."

"Of course, Jongho. Don't forget to lock your doors."

"And you too, if you're not still staying with Yeosang and Seonghwa."

"I was just going to go back to my apartment for the night."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"What do you mean?"

"San and Wooyoung are still out there. And judging by yesterday, you are clearly a target."

"Yeah, honestly I was surprised they let me come back to work so quickly. Chief wanted me to take a break but when I said no, he didn't fight me."

"That's Chief for you. But anyway...I don't think it's safe for you to be alone."

"What are you saying?"

"There's extra room in the lofts...if you want to stay for the night. I'd feel a lot better knowing you're with someone who can protect you."

"You think I can't protect myself?"

"Oh, I don't think that." Jongho shakes his head profusely.

Yunho chuckles. "I'm just messing with you."

"Oh…" Jongho blushes a bit.

"You were saying?"

"Oh right...I would feel better knowing you were with a _vampire_ that could protect you. Better?"

"Much."

Jongho rolls his eyes playfully. "Clearly you haven't seen these guns."

Yunho laughs as Jongho flexes his muscles through his suit jacket. "Strong guy I see."

"You should have seen me send Wooyoung flying. It was crazy."

"You...sent Wooyoung flying? On one hand I find that hard to believe but on the other, I sense you're much stronger than you let on."

"There you go. Now what do you say?"

Yunho looks over Jongho for a second before saying, "Loft sleepover it is."

Jongho smiles softly as he cheers internally. "Follow me then, my guest."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa makes his way to the elevator, intending to go up to the second floor to return the files he was working on. As the elevator dings, indicating that the doors were about to open, he notices someone coming towards him from the corner of his eye. He turns to his right to see Mingi walking his way. The secretary stops and stands right next to him as the elevator opens.

"Oh, hey Mingi", Seonghwa says, "What are you up to?"

The secretary's head turns towards him. Seonghwa sees a cold expression lingering on Mingi's face, and it almost makes him shiver.

"Nothing much", Mingi says, "how about yourself?"

It was unlike Mingi to look so dead-eyed. "Um...Mingi? Is everything okay?"

"I'm just…" Mingi goes silent but chooses to look down instead.

"If you need to talk, I'm here, okay?"

Mingi nods softly. "It'll be fine."

They both quickly step into the elevator and Seonghwa turns to look at Mingi. Instead of looking cold, he looks sad then. The older presses the 2 button on the elevator and Mingi reaches around to press 3. The elevator shook a little as it ascended up a floor. It should have scared Seonghwa but he was used to it by now. He looks back at Mingi, who leans against the wooden walls of the elevator.

"What is it like…", Mingi finally speaks up.

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow as Mingi goes silent. "What is like to what?"

"To...love."

"Love?" Seonghwa was confused but wanted to hear more.

"I don't know what to feel. This wasn't part of the plan."

"No one plans love, Mingi. It just happens."

"I've ruined everything."

Seonghwa looks even more confused as the elevator dings again, signalling that they've reached the second floor. "Mingi, trust me when I tell you, love is complicated. But everyone deserves love."

"You don't understand. You'll never understand." Mingi sounds frustrated. Seonghwa decides it's best to leave him be for a bit to let him cool down. The doors open on the elevator to reveal the second floor.

"Mingi...remember to follow your heart", Seonghwa says, stepping off the elevator and back into the flow of the Bureau. He looks back to see Mingi raising an eyebrow.

"Heart?", Mingi asks in a questioning tone. Seonghwa was about to press him on it before the doors to the elevator close. The vampire sighs. 

"Love...huh", he says to himself. He walks over to the evidence room and hands over the files to the lady behind the desk. He promptly thanks her before walking back to the main hall. 

The second floor was bustling with people in their cubicles and others running around trying to make copies. It was a bit more chaotic than he's used to on the first floor.

He makes his way back to the elevator and presses the button, this time to go down. Yeosang had left for a bit and had been gone for a few hours doing who knows what. Seonghwa had just chosen to stay behind and do a bit more research into the case. He found not much more but it didn't hurt to try.

There was so much he didn't understand about this case. There was no specific type of victim the perpetrators went for. It was just random people that were targeted. If it weren't for the carved faces, they wouldn't even know they were from the same killer. And the locations were random too, scattered throughout the city. If they were going to catch these killers, they had to be fast.

Seonghwa gets snapped out of his thoughts by the elevator dinging. He steps in and hits on the elevator panel to go back down to the first floor.

When the elevator opens back up when it reaches the ground floor, he quickly steps out and makes his way over to his desk. To his surprise, he sees Yeosang standing at his own desk a few feet away.

"Oh...Yeosang, you're back", he says as he reaches his desk.

Yeosang looks up at him from standing over his chair. "Yeah, sorry for leaving, I just needed to clear my head a bit. Not that it worked."

"Where'd you go?"

"I went to this club I go to when I need to relax."

"A club?"

"Yeah. But tonight was even more stressful. I swear he's messing with my head."

"Who's he?" Seonghwa sits down in his chair.

"San. He was at the club, just casually sipping his drink while I was having a crisis right in front of him."

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "San?!"

"Yeah, San. He finally approached me himself."

"That bastard. What did he say to you?"

"He...asked me to join ATEEZ. I think that's his clan."

Seonghwa's jaw drops to the floor and his expression becomes increasingly angrier. "Are you serious?"

"He told me I was his priority now, whatever that means."

"Oh, that fucker has something else coming for him."

"And that's not all…"

Seonghwa's expression softens slightly. "What else?"

"He...knew I was half-vampire. There's no way anyone besides like 10 people should know that."

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "So he knows you're half-human...and still asked you to join ATEEZ?"

Yeosang's mouth makes an O shape. "I didn't think of it like that. Do clans typically not allow half-vampires to join?"

"Yeosang, sweetie. There have been no other half-vampires recorded besides you."

"Oh…"

"Yeah."

"I still want to figure out how I was made. How it's possible for a half-vampire to even exist. And how they're created."

Seonghwa nods slightly. "I will help you."

"Thank you. I've been looking since I was first turned but I've found nothing for 5 years."

"5 years and nothing?"

"Yeah. It won't change anything for me personally if I know. I just...I want to know."

Yeosang sighs slightly as he walks around the wall to Seonghwa's cubicle.

"I understand. I wouldn't want you to run off when you find the truth. I want you to stay."

"You asked me to stay last time too but you were the one who ended up leaving", Yeosang blurts out suddenly. He quickly covers his mouth in shock.

"I'm sorry...I...I don't know what came over me", Yeosang says, eyes widening.

Seonghwa's eyes go wide too but they quickly come back to normal. "Those are your feelings. It's not good to keep them bottled up."

Yeosang nods. "I'm still...sorry."

Seonghwa tilts his head at him. "Can I hug you?"

Yeosang looks a bit shocked but nods softly. Seonghwa stands up and sticks arms out to the younger. Yeosang goes closer to the elder, who wraps his arms around him.

"I'm here now, okay?", Seonghwa says.

"I know", Yeosang responds, "I only want you to stay."

"I'm here to stay. I'm not going anywhere."

Seonghwa holds the younger in his arms, not exactly in a hug but still holding him nonetheless.

"You don't know how much I've missed you", Yeosang says softly.

It takes Seonghwa a minute to process what he just said and his eyes widen as it dawns on him.

"You missed me?"

"Of course I did, idiot."

Yeosang pulls away from the other completely and leans back against the cubicle wall. Seonghwa sees tears building up in the younger's eyes but says nothing about it.

"I...missed you too, Yeosang."

Yeosang looks up at him curiously. He hadn't expected the man who left unexpectedly 5 years ago to say that he missed him.

"You...missed me?"

"Of course I do. I've...never stopped thinking about you."

"You haven't?"

Seonghwa shakes his head. "I missed you so badly. Especially when I came back to the Bureau. I saw your face everyday but your smile was gone. All I could think about is how I wanted you back."

"Wow…", Yeosang looks over at Seonghwa, who sits back down.

"And then that day I saw you at my apartment just confirmed it. I miss you. I miss being with you. I miss holding you. I just...miss you."

Seonghwa looks up and makes eye contact with the younger, to see the same loving expression in his eyes.

"I...Seonghwa."

"I feel this is something to discuss after the case is closed but I needed to get that off my chest."

Yeosang nods. "I'm glad you did. I've felt that way for so long but I was unsure if you did too. And now that you've confirmed it too. What can I say...I'm happy."

Seonghwa smiles at his comment. "I feel much happier too, knowing it's not just me."

"Let's solve this case together, partner." Yeosang sticks his hand out for a playful handshake.

Seonghwa takes it with a smile. "Right back at you, partner."

The two shake hands quickly and smile together. They felt just a bit more at peace with each other and themselves.

"And thank god you saved my life that same night I went to your apartment, otherwise I wouldn't even be here to tell the tale", Yeosang says.

Yeosang laughs lightly at what his own statement but Seonghwa just looks confused.

"Wait...what do you mean saved your life that same night?", Seonghwa asks.

"Remember I got attacked by the hunter? You saved me", Yeosang says, quietly, "You killed that hunter?"

"Hold up. I didn't...save you from a hunter."

"What?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't remember saving you from a hunter."

"That...makes no sense. Your name was on the note…"

"What note?"

"The note that you left when you took me to Yunho's."

"I didn't write a note...and I haven't been to Yunho's in months."

"You haven't?"

Seonghwa shakes his head. "No."

"I thanked you the other day for saving me and you didn't say anything about it then.

"That's because I thought you meant the night you...you know...got turned."

"So you weren't the one who killed that hunter and saved me?"

Seonghwa shakes his head, "As much as I'd like to take credit for saving you, I'm not gonna take the fall for killing a man."

"Then who saved me from the hunter?"

"I didn't see you after you left my apartment that night", Seonghwa says, "I think you're mistaking me for someone else. I wasn't the one who killed that man. I didn't save you from any hunter."


	10. Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongho and Yunho get to know each other better. Yeosang investigates his own past. Seonghwa seeks out an unlikely source...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended for this story to only be 10 chapters but that didn't happen so oh well.

_"You'll do nicely", the man whispers. His deep voice sends shivers down the Yeosang's spine. Yeosang can only shift his eyes at the man. Everything else was frozen in place._

_The man walks around Yeosang, his eyes scanning over him multiple times. The man stops and brings his masked face to the side of Yeosang's face._

_"I've chosen you", the man says, getting closer to his ear, "Be grateful."_

_Yeosang has no idea what his words mean. He had no idea if he was about to die, or be turned into a vampire, or what else this man had in store for him. He can feel Seonghwa's name burning in the back of his throat, wanting to call out to the other for help. But even if he wanted to, he couldn't open his mouth or say anything. Had Seonghwa not followed him like he originally thought?_

_"What are we going to do with you?", the man says, scanning over Yeosang one last time. Yeosang turns his eyes to look at the man who was now reaching into his pocket._

_Yeosang's worry only increased by the second. He had no idea what was going to happen to him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. But he wasn't allowed to._

_Seonghwa...he hopes the older is out there, looking for him. He wants to scream out "I'm right here". His throat burns as he just wants to let it all out._

_From the corner of his eye, Yeosang can see the vampire pulls something shiny out of his pocket. He wants to ask what it is and what he's going to do to him. He can't say anything._

_The man comes to stand in front of him, holding the shiny object up to Yeosang's eye level. He can clearly see now that it's a knife. Panic settles in Yeosang's stomach and he feels sick. He wants to fight and he wants to run. But he isn't given that privilege. He was little more than a prisoner in that moment._

_The vampire smirks as he takes his knife and quickly aims it at Yeosang's left shoulder. Yeosang looks down at the knife, still not knowing what's happening. The man would have bitten him by now if that was his intention._

_"We're going to try something...different."_

_Yeosang barely has time to even realize what's happening when the knife pierces his skin. The vampire drags the knife all across his shoulder blade, creating a large gash. Yeosang wants to cry. He was in pain. It was numbed by the charm that was placed on him, but the pain was still extreme._

_He can't even fall to the ground due to the vampire's charm on him preventing him from moving. All Yeosang can do is stand there, powerless as the blood loss starts to take effect and the life starts to drain from his eyes._

"Something isn't right here", Jongho says.

"What do you mean?", Yunho responds, turning over in the bed.

It was already 2 in the morning, according to the clock on the wall. When they reached the lofts a few hours back, they discovered the other one was being occupied by a security guard. Not wanting to ruin the sleepover, Jongho just invited Yunho to come sleep in his room. They both refused for the other to take the floor so they just decided to lay in the bed together.

"Everyone seems like they're hiding something."

"How so?"

"I don't know. I feel like I'm out of the loop on so much. I know I'm new here and a newly turned vampire so I'm not the most experienced in anything, but I feel tense sometimes, and I don't know why."

"Do you mean like secrets?"

"Somewhat, it's more like there's this feeling I get of...not everyone is who they say they are."

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "Anyone specific?"

"I don't want to name names or anything but for example: Seonghwa...Yeosang...Mingi...even Chief."

"Do you think it was one of them that tampered with the evidence?"

"I don't plan to make accusations with proof to back it up."

"Hm…"

"But yeah, they all give me eerie vibes and that's coming from a vampire."

"Not me?"

Jongho looks over at the blue-haired man, staring up at him. "What?"

"You don't think I have anything to hide?"

"I mean...everyone has something to hide. It's not that I think you have nothing to hide. It's that I don't think what you're hiding will change how you're viewed as a person. People like Seonghwa, Yeosang, Mingi, Chief, hell half the staff here...they all have dark secrets that would change everything. I can feel it…"

"I can see what you mean. I've known them all for so long but at the same time, I feel like I don't know them at all. I've known them all for almost 6 years. Yeosang and Seonghwa used to be bright and energetic when they first came into the Bureau. Then Seonghwa left and Yeosang just withdrew into himself. It didn't take him long to realize he had been turned into a vampire. He came to me first and I had to help him through it. He was prepared to quit. He knew a vampire working at the Bureau could only spell trouble. But once Chief found out he was a vampire, he decided to keep him on. He was still stoic and cold all throughout the years. Then when Seonghwa came back, they avoided each other like the plague. But they were both the same. Cold and stoic not really working with other people unless it was necessary."

Jongho nods. "They were like that when I came in too. Then when this case started, they finally made up it seems. And now they seem happy. I'm happy for them. But it only makes everything seem even more off. Like...why did Seonghwa come back? Why did he leave in the first place? And Yeosang...he's a mystery all by himself."

"They're my friends so I don't like to think they're hiding things."

"Yeah, I consider them my friends too, even though I've only interacted with them for the last week. So, I feel bad thinking that they're hiding things from the Bureau. I think I'm just being paranoid."

Yunho lifts his hand and pokes Jongho's nose with his pointer finger. "I think your inner agent is coming out if anything. Just remember to relax and don't suspect everything."

Jongho's eyes widen as he feels himself blush slightly. "I...I will try. I can't help it sometimes. It's probably the new guy jitters."

Yunho quietly laughs. "You're adorable, Jongho."

Jongho's cheeks heat up even more. "I...uh...thanks."

Yunho quiets down and just looks at the younger get flustered. The older smiles down at Jongho. "Big, tough vampire gets flustered too, huh?"

"Sh...Shut up." Jongho hides his head under his blanket. Yunho just chuckles.

"Get out here, you baby."

"You're an ass." Jongho lifts his head back out and looks at Yunho.

"That's my brand, get with the program."

The two laugh together, trying to be quiet as not to disturb the security guard sleeping in the other room.

"We should do something", Jongho says.

"Like?"

"I'd say let's go wild on the town but stupid bloodsuckers have to ruin everything."

"They really do. Except you, you're nice." Yunho winks at the younger.

Jongho mouth hangs agape. He just watches as the other smirks. "Yunho…"

The older raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Jongho sighs and whispers under his breath. "Don't do things you don't mean."

"What did you say?", Yunho says with a confused expression.

Jongho shakes his head. "Nothing. Just thinking out loud."

"I do that too, don't worry."

Jongho looks back over at Yunho. He doesn't know how to describe how he feels when he looks over at the older. He hadn't known the older that long so he didn't know what the feeling was yet. He just knows he likes the way it feels.

"Let's play 20 questions", Yunho says abruptly.

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm not gonna be able to sleep for a while. Might as well get to know each other a little better."

Jongho shrugs and says, "You're right."

"You're first."

"Me? Oh."

Yunho nods, awaiting the other's question.

"Earlier you said I didn't think you had anything to hide. So my question is...do you?"

Jongho asks the question in a quiet tone, looking up at Yunho to see his reaction. Yunho's eyes widen at his question. He didn't expect such a blunt and personal question for the first one.

"I…yes. I mean it's not like no one knows but it's something I wouldn't like to be public knowledge."

Yunho says it shakily, looking away from Jongho as he does.

"What is it?"

"That wasn't the question."

Jongho looks at the other knowingly. "That's not fair."

"Yes it is. Ask on your next turn."

"Fine. It's your turn."

Yunho jokingly strokes his chin. "Since you wanted to ask me a personal question, I'm gonna hit you with one as well."

"Honestly, I deserve it. Hit me."

"Is it okay if I ask about when you were turned? I don't wanna bring up trauma or anything for you."

"Oh...yeah, it's fine. We're supposed to be getting to know each other, and I guess we're hitting that deep level."

"Alright. Just making sure. I want to make sure you're comfortable."

Jongho feels himself flush with multiple feelings at once. He didn't know how to feel about it.

"That...means a lot, actually. Thank you."

"Mhm."

"What's the question?"

"Hm...do you have any memory of when you were turned?"

Jongho breathes in heavily before releasing it. "Elaborate."

"Like do you know what the vampire who turned you looks like? Any idea what happened to them? Just any general things you remember, really."

Jongho is silent for a second, making Yunho worry that he was too forward and personal with the question. That washes away however when Jongho opens his mouth to answer. "He was masked and he had a hood on. I couldn't see his face. But the image of his mask will forever be imprinted in my mind. He had on one of those thick plastic masquerade masks. This one was shaped like a cat and it was white and gold. His face was sadistic almost when he was draining the life out of my parents, I could tell even under the mask. I was helpless to watch as he picked them off. Next thing I knew, I had a pair of fangs in my neck. When I woke up, I was surrounded by Bureau agents. They thought I was dead but then again, so did I."

_"3 dead on scene", Jongho hears a voice faintly say. He couldn't comprehend anything. Everything was numb. All he registered was hunger. He was so hungry…_

_"Agent Park, what's wrong?", another voice says. Jongho can't see anything, and he can barely hear. It was more confusing than anything._

_"Stay back, rookie", the first voice says. Jongho brings himself to realize that his eyes are closed. He opens them suddenly, finally able to see what's going on. He sees a young man in a suit standing there, staring at him. Another male was standing about 10 feet behind him. Jongho shifts his eyes around to notice that there's police cars and officers standing around yellow caution tape. His hearing starts coming back and he notices the sirens are blaring. They hurt, even worse than they normally should. He doesn't move anything but his eyes._

_"Newly turned", the male standing close to him says._

_Jongho looks around the crowd. His hunger gets stronger by the second as he scans everyone. His body starts moving itself before he realizes, and he starts standing up._

_"Oh my god, he's alive!", he hears a voice say. He notices some of the officers have their guns pointed at him._

_"Stand down!", the male in front of him says, turning to the officers. The officers look taken aback at the pale, dark-haired male barking orders at them. They keep their guns pointed but make no attempt to do anything. The male turns back to Jongho._

_"Turn it off", Jongho says under his breath._

_"Turn what off?"_

_Jongho looks surprised that the man could hear him. "The sirens. They hurt."_

_The man looks towards the cop cars as Jongho covers his ears. "Shut the sound off!", he yells to the officers._

_The officers hesitate, as they typically did not take requests from people on the crime scene. Within a few seconds, however, the noise dies down. The man turns back to look at Jongho._

_"Is that better?"_

_Jongho nods. "Yes."_

_"Okay...now do you know who you are? What you are?"_

_"What are you talking about?" Jongho gets slightly taken aback by the question. He looks down to see the bodies of his parents. Everything comes back to him abruptly. Every gruesome sight of his parents' killer and the events of the previous night come flooding into his mind. His eyes stung as he blinked, trying to clear the tears building up._

_"Nevermind for now. We'll discuss that after we figure out what happened." Jongho sees the man give him a worrying look, almost apologetic._

_"Huh?" Jongho blinks again, bringing himself back to reality._

_"My name is Park Seonghwa. We just have some questions for you."_

_"I don't...know what happened." Jongho was on the verge of tears. He was standing in pools of his parents' blood. He had no one left. He was done for._

_"What's your name?"_

_"I don't...I don't want to die. Please help me."_

_Seonghwa watches as the younger slumps down, as if trying to beg him. The younger starts shaking the bodies of his parents._

_"Mom! Dad!", Jongho screams in a desperate tone. Tears were falling down his cheeks as he tried to no avail to wake them up._

_"Young man, these are your parents?", Seonghwa asks. Jongho nods slowly._

_"They're gone...aren't they?"_

_Seonghwa nods as Jongho cries even harder. "Come with me. I'll help you."_

"Wow", Yunho says, "I had no idea Seonghwa had such a big part in the whole thing."

"Yeah...he helped me through a lot. He taught me how to control my hunger and my powers. I really owe him."

Yunho nods. "Crazy."

"Also I later learned throughout that whole thing, my eyes were glowing bright yellow, which wasn't helping my case at all."

Yunho laughs lightly at the addition. "That's definitely something, Jongho. How do you feel about all of it now, though?"

Jongho shrugs. "It haunts me sometimes but I don't like to think about it too much. Not gonna let that bastard who killed my parents and turned me into a bloodsucker have the pleasure of even being in my thoughts."

"That's...extremely impressive. That's a good way to think of it."

Jongho just looks over and says, "Better than letting it control me. Also, you're welcome. That was a second question as a freebie."

"Okay, okay", Yunho says, "Your turn."

"Elaborate on what it is you have to hide."

Yunho sighs. "Really?"

Jongho nods. "If I had to talk about my past, you have to tell me your secret."

"I guess you're right."

Jongho smiles slightly as he awaits the other's answer. "Whenever you're ready."

Yunho runs his hand through his hair and breathes out heavily. "Fine. If you must know...I'm a medic in my spare time."

"A medic?"

"Mhm. But not just any medic. I'm a medic for vampires."

Jongho tilts his head into his pillow. "A medic for vampires. What does that mean?"

"Basically, if any local friendly vampire needs patching up, they come to me. I basically run an unlicensed vampire hospital out of my apartment. It's not anything extravagant. Vampires heal themselves but if they need a stake removed, need to be bandaged, or they need blood, I'm their guy. Most of the vampires who live among the people of the town know about me. I help them when they get caught up in vampire business they wanted nothing to do with. Most of the people I help on the daily just want to live normal human lives. It's harder for them but I always try my best to help them however I can."

"And...you hide this?"

"From humans, yes. Don't think a town full of vampire hunters would like to learn a human is helping the bloodsuckers."

"That's very noble, Yunho. You know you could be a target too, and you choose to help us."

"I don't do it to be noble, I just do it because I want to."

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Why do you do it, though?"

"In honor of an old friend. I just want to keep his memory alive. Plus, I guess I just have a soft spot for helping people, no matter if they're human or vampire. It'll probably come to bite me in the ass someday but for now, I do what I do."

Jongho nods. "If anything, you telling me that just made me realize how real you seem compared to so many people here. You care about people, you try to see the good in them. You don't give up. I like that, Yunho."

"Thank you. I just keep doing it, and no one really understands why. Even I don't, but I don't think I need to, when I'm helping so many people, it doesn't really matter why."

Jongho looks at the other in amazement. "Jeong Yunho...the man you are today. Your friend would be so proud."

"I'd like to think so too."

Jongho smiles widely as he tells Yunho, "You're crazy. But such...a great human being. It's almost unbelievable, especially in this town."

"You can come see my clinic. It's small but I make do. It's in my apartment so I have vampires come in and out for treatment all the time. The neighbors are probably tired at this point."

Jongho lets out a small chuckle. "They're probably old anyway. Leave them be."

"You're right. Let's go to the next question, Jongho."

"Next!"

"And it's my turn?"

Jongho bobs his head up and down. "Indeed."

"Hm...what's your biggest fear?"

"Like...currently?"

"Of course."

Jongho shifts his eyes to look into Yunho's. "I'm gonna go generic...losing you guys. I know it's only been 2 weeks but I have no family left. You guys make me feel like family."

Yunho's mouth shapes itself into a smile. "That's just...so precious, Jongho. I'm glad you feel that way about us."

"Of course I would. I may doubt some things around here, but I think it's finally beginning to feel like home."

"I'm happy about that. I really am."

Jongho presses his lips together. "I am too."

"Are you ready for the next question?"

"Yeah, I don't know how I can elaborate on that for now, so sure."

"Alright. It's your turn."

"I know."

Jongho stares at him, not really having any expression on his face, and just choosing to stay neutral.

"What's your question for me?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have anymore for me?"

Jongho tilts his head slightly, as if to try and get a better look at Yunho. "Do you like anyone?"

Yunho raises an eyebrow at the younger's question. "Do I like anyone?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Hey, we're getting to know each other better here. I want to know all about you, Jeong Yunho."

Yunho could feel a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks. "I...I'm not used to people wanting to know more about me. Why do you?"

Jongho shrugs slightly. "You interest me. That's more than I can say for...hm...literally anyone else currently existing."

Yunho chuckles. "Wow, I must be special."

Jongho smiles. "You are."

Yunho's blush gets slightly deeper as he says, "T...Thank you."

"So do you? Like anyone I mean?"

"Hm…I mean...maybe."

"I think you like the secretary, Yunho, it's kind of obvious."

Yunho's face turns a bright pink as he hears the words come out of Jongho's mouth. "I...uh…"

"It's okay, Yunho, I won't tell him."

"It's just...a slight crush. Nothing serious."

Jongho's expression remains neutral as he makes eye contact with the other. "I'm...sorry to break it to you, Yunho. Mingi is completely infatuated with Chief. I was in there to watch Chief the other day and Mingi stumbled over his feet anytime he was praised."

Yunho nods slowly. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm getting over it. Like I said, it's just a crush, I'm not in love with him or anything. So I'm getting there."

"I didn't mean to upset you or anything, but I just wanted to make sure you weren't chasing the wrong thing."

"Thank you. I can handle it, though. You may be immortal but I have lived longer."

"Okay, I see how it is."

Yunho jokingly narrows his eyes. "You better."

"Whatever you say, Yunho."

Jongho just shrugs his shoulders and smiles, comfortably looking around the room.

"Were they really making oogly eyes at each other at work?", Yunho asks.

Jongho jokingly gasps. "Yeah, right in front of my salad!"

Yunho starts laughing softly at that, quickly followed by Jongho who quickly joins him.

"Even Yeosang and Seonghwa don't do that."

Jongho coughs lightly. "Now _that_ is the lie of the century. But it's less oogly eyes and more longing stares. They're head over heels for each other. It'll work out for them, I guarantee it."

Yunho nods. "I agree, I've never seen two idiots who were meant for each other more."

"You know we sound like teenagers gossiping about our friends' love lives."

Yunho snorts. "What love lives?"

"Ay, who are we to judge?"

"You're right."

Jongho looks over at Yunho, who looks like he's in some thoughts.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, just thinking of my next question for you."

"Oh, yeah."

"It's my turn now."

"Hit me with your best shot, tech boy."

"Oh ho ho, tech boy, so original."

"I try."

Yunho squints his eyes, trying to figure out the best way to word his question. "What do you miss most? Whether it be from 2 days ago or 2 years, do you miss anything or anyone?"

"I'm not gonna go generic and say my parents. Let's move past that."

Yunho nods. "Your answer, not mine."

Jongho gives a small smile. His expression quickly turns into one of longing as he looks at the ceiling. "You know what I miss?"

"Hm?"

"Just...holding someone. I know it sounds stupid but it's nice to be able to just hold them in your arms."

Yunho looks at the other in slight bewilderment. "You mean like...cuddling?"

Jongho's cheeks start to turn pink as he nods softly. "I haven't had anyone care for me in so long. I'm a lover, not a fighter. Despite what my strength says."

"We care for you, Jongho."

"I know you guys care for me but I meant in a more...loving context?"

"You mean like a girlfriend?"

"Something like that. More just someone to be there with like...loving arms wide open."

"Hm."

Jongho sighs. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

Yunho chuckles. "No, don't be sorry. I understand how you feel."

"You do?"

"Yeah, a feeling of loneliness is common across all species."

"That's true."

Jongho messes with his blanket for a minute, trying to get it to cover his feet better. At the same time, Yunho lightly shifts his weight onto his side before extending his arms out to Jongho. "Come here."

Jongho turns toward the other and raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"Cuddle with me, Choi Jongho."

Jongho feels his cheeks turn pink and his mouth hangs agape. "W...What?"

"Just come here, you big baby."

Jongho looks down at Yunho's arms and just stares. "I don't...I can't."

"Why not?"

"I…"

"Talk to me, Jongho."

"I don't...do feelings. It's not...easy."

"Nothing's easy. And feelings are natural, don't try to repress them."

"You don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't...I can't tell you. Not now."

"O...Oh."

Yunho's face falls a little. He notices that Jongho is moving closer to him, however. The younger slides his body into Yunho's arms. His chest presses against Yunho's.

"Here...I am."

Yunho smiles. "Here you are."

"This feels...nice."

Yunho closes his arms around Jongho's waist, pulling him closer. "It does, doesn't it?"

Jongho felt warm in Yunho's arms, although his skin was cold. Jongho, on the other hand, felt warmth radiating from Yunho's body, making him feel warm in return. He brings his face up to look at Yunho. He felt his heart beat faster at the older's expression. Yunho looks at him with so much care, that it almost brings tears to his eyes.

"Thank you, Yunho."

"No problem."

Jongho feels something in his chest, a feeling. He doesn't like to care so much about someone especially since he lost his family but...something about Yunho makes him want to care. But he knows Yunho has eyes for Mingi...

"Goodnight, Jongho", Yunho abruptly says, interrupting the other's thoughts.

"Oh...uh...goodnight", Jongho says in return.

Deciding he shouldn't think so much about it for now, Jongho closes his eyes softly, burying his face into Yunho's shoulder as he drifts off. Yunho looks down at the younger's peaceful, sleeping face. 

"Jongho", Yunho says suddenly. He could feel something in his chest. It was a warm feeling and he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Jongho snuggles into his chest even more.

"Yes?", the other responds sleepily.

Yunho just pulls Jongho a bit closer to him and says, "Nothing. Goodnight, Jongho."

"Goodnight."

Yunho feels his eyes flutter shut, feeling comfortable and at peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You...didn't save me?", Yeosang asks.

"I'll say the same thing I've said the last 6 times you've asked", Seonghwa says, "No. I didn't kill that hunter. I ran after you to give you your jacket back but couldn't find you and gave up."

When his shift ended last night, he had a long panic when Seonghwa told him he wasn't the one who saved him. He ran out of the building when he heard the words come out of Seonghwa's mouth. He thought it was a cruel joke. But when Seonghwa texted him last night, he knew the other was telling the truth. The next morning, he was able to be more composed when he confronted Seonghwa about it again. But now, he's coming undone again.

Yeosang runs his fingers through his hair, internally panicking. "Oh my god…"

"Are you okay?" Seonghwa watches as the younger starts pacing quickly. 

"I'm...fine." Yeosang's breathing starts increasing and his heart rate does as well, slightly.

"You don't look fine. What's the problem?"

"Who...who saved me that night?"

"I don't know, Yeosang."

Yeosang stops and sighs. He looks at Seonghwa, who looks just as confused as he does. "I...thought it was you."

"I know you did. But it wasn't."

Yeosang is silent as he just stares at Seonghwa, trying to figure out what was wrong. In his gut, he could feel it was more than just shock. It was almost...disappointment?

"I will help you find out who did save you, if you'd like." Seonghwa shrugs as Yeosang still struggles to figure out the problem.

"Thank you, Seonghwa."

Yeosang sits back in his chair and breathes in and out heavily.

"What can we do?"

"I'm gonna message Yunho about the note." 

"I still don't know what note you mean but yes, do that."

Yeosang rolls his chair closer to Seonghwa and hangs his head. "I just...I don't know why I feel so awful."

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "When was the last time you fed?"

"No, it's not that. It's just...feelings."

"What kind of feelings?"

"I don't...I don't know. That's why it feels so awful because I can't figure it out."

"We will figure it out."

Yeosang looks up to see Seonghwa's smile. He feels something pang in his chest, making him feel even worse. He can't figure out what's going on, and he can't figure out why it hurts so bad...

Yeosang lays his head on Seonghwa's shoulder, not knowing what for, exactly. He just felt like it was the right thing to do in that moment. Seonghwa slowly looks down to see his partner with his face looking sullen but satisfied. He smiles even wider.

"No PDA in the office, please", Mingi says as he quickly passes by.

The two turn their heads to see Mingi walk away towards the hallway. "Buzzkill", Seonghwa says.

Yeosang coughs and lifts his head up. "I...uh, sorry."

Seonghwa shakes his head. "You're good."

Yeosang slides his chair back a little and sighs. He pulls out his phone and messages Yunho, asking him if he was at his apartment currently.

_Are you at your apartment right now? I know it's your day off so I wanted to know where you were. I need something super important._

He awaited the others response. He tried to avoid making eye contact with Seonghwa, although it seems the other was noticing. As if on cue, his phone dings.

_I'm out with Jongho right now. How urgent is it?_

Yeosang reads over the message again. "Why's he with Jongho?", he says under his breath.

Seonghwa looks over. "He's with Jongho?"

Yeosang shifts his eyes to the vampire, who looks at him in confusion. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"Those two have been spending a lot of time together recently. I wonder if something's up."

Yeosang starts typing into his phone again as Seonghwa keeps talking.

_Pretty urgent. Let's just say I found out the person who dropped me off at your apartment that night wasn't Seonghwa. I really need that note they left with me._

When he's done, he looks back up at Seonghwa. He raises an eyebrow. "Something's up?"

Seonghwa shrugs his shoulders lightly. "Maybe they're dating now or something."

Yeosang lets out a laugh. "As if."

Seonghwa gives a feigning offended look. "What? I think it would cute."

"Cute? Yes. Viable? No. They're complete opposites."

"Clearly you've never seen a romance movie."

Yeosang just shrugs, still awaiting a response. "Yunho likes Mingi anyway."

Seonghwa snaps his neck to look at the younger. "Did I hear that right? Our dear soft Yunho has a crush on...I don't even know how to describe Mingi. I know barely anything about him besides the fact that sometimes he seems even less human than we do. Dude needs to crack a smile more often."

Yeosang just looks over at the other. "Says you, who hadn't smiled in who knows how long until like 2 weeks ago."

"Fair. But my point still stands."

Yeosang hears his phone make noise again and he picks it up to check.

_Are you being serious? It wasn't Seonghwa? Then who was it?_

Yeosang quickly types his response.

_I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out and that's why I need the note. When will you be home?_

The response comes quicker that Yeosang expected. Seonghwa lays a comforting hand on Yeosang's shoulder as he reads the reply.

_I'm on my way now. You can head over._

Yeosang sighs. "I'm gonna go to Yunho's apartment to go retrieve the note from him."

"Okay, good. I can stay here and keep looking for other clues if you want."

Yeosang shakes his head. "This is just a side project, pretty much. We need to focus on the case at hand. So please work on that."

"Of course."

For some reason, Yeosang thinks he detects that Seonghwa is lying but he brushes it off. He nods.

Yeosang walks away from the other, heading to Yunho's apartment for answers from the tech analyst. Thoughts prodded at the back of his head as he walked out of the building. He had wished the one who saved him had been Seonghwa. He didn't want some mysterious knight in shining armor saving his life. He could handle himself. But if he had to pick someone to be there for him…

It would be Seonghwa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's your deal?", Wooyoung asks. San sits down at the table, dealing his playing cards out.

"What could you mean?", San asks in return, picking up a 7 of hearts.

"You don't even understand?"

"If you have a problem, Wooyoung, just say it."

"It's not that easy."

"And why is that?" San places all the cards on the table.

Wooyoung stays silent as San picks up a card.

"Every one of us fit into a role, Wooyoung, much like these cards. Even if no one realizes it. I am the King of Diamonds. In a position of power, but always seeking more. In certain instances, it can be taken by the Ace."

"This is the problem", Wooyoung says, burying his face in his hands.

"I don't get what you mean."

"Let me explain it your way. I'd say you're more the King of Hearts, myself", Wooyoung says, "Always driving a sword through your own head. Never knowing when to quit when you're ahead. Always going further than you need to. And never realizing people around you, or even feeling anything besides spur of the moment emotions."

"Insightful", San says, looking at Wooyoung, impressed. Wooyoung, however, looks less amused.

San picks up a different card and shows it to his partner.

"See, Wooyoung, you are the Queen of Clubs. Extremely significant but less known. Much more overshadowed by the others of your kind. But useful when it comes to dealing with the other cards beneath it."

"Is that all I am to you?" Wooyoung asks, not even looking San in the eyes, "Just useful?"

"What are you asking?"

Wooyoung stands up in frustration and starts to walk away when he just stops. San doesn't look up from his cards, choosing to shuffle them instead.

"Do you even care about me?", Wooyoung asks in an almost broken tone.

San stops shuffling abruptly and turns around to face the younger. Wooyoung has a heartbroken look on his face, looking at San and hoping for an answer.

"Wooyoung", San says, "What did I tell you?"

"What are you talking about?" Wooyoung was feeling irritated by this point. He wasn't about to deal with San bouncing around the question any longer.

"You're important, Wooyoung."

"That doesn't answer the question. I didn't ask if I was important, I asked if you care about me."

San stands up and throws the deck of cards down onto the table roughly. "Why is that important?"

"It's important to me. I feel used here, like I'm only here to be your henchman or muscle to do your dirty work."

"Wooyoung!" San says his name in a commanding tone, causing the younger to quiet down and look the older in the eye.

"What?", Wooyoung says softly. His eyes are filled with pure sadness.

"Emotions are human, Wooyoung. I don't believe in them unless they serve a purpose."

Wooyoung just stares longingly at San, his words not making a difference.

"However...if I had to say, I have grown to care about you, yes."

Wooyoung's eyebrows raise and his eyes widen slightly. He didn't know what he was expecting but he didn't expect that.

"You...care about me?"

"As much as my unbeating heart can, yes."

Wooyoung just stares at the other. "You never show it."

"Ah yes, what is the human phrase. Actions speak louder than words."

"Yes."

"I'm unaware how to show I care. I haven't done so in almost 2 centuries. If there is something I can do, let me know."

Wooyoung goes silent, just staring at the other in bewilderment.

"Hm?", San says.

"I just...I didn't think you actually cared."

San sighs. "Caring is hard."

Wooyoung nods. "Just making an effort is nice enough."

San just smirks slightly. "Sounds like me."

Wooyoung wipes the tears in the corner of his eyes. He was feeling significantly better already. 

"Are you okay now?", San asks.

Wooyoung nods as he sits back down in his chair. He was feeling a bit more satisfied, although only time would tell if the elder vampire was being genuine. San goes quiet as the younger speaks up again.

"Who is the Ace?"

"Hm?"

Wooyoung picks up the Ace of Hearts card. "The Ace you said could take you down. Who is it? Is it Kang Yeosang or Park Seonghwa?"

"No. If anything, Park Seonghwa is the Jack of Spades. Darkness surrounds that boy. He knows it too, just refuses to admit it. Kang Yeosang is the Colored Joker. A wild card, he may harm our efforts or benefit them greatly. Only time will tell which."

Wooyoung rolls his eyes. "You're annoying."

"I know. But the Ace is neither of those two."

"Then who?"

San smirks. "I have someone else in mind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang sits on Yunho's couch, watching the clock tick. He's waiting for Yunho to find the note that not-Seonghwa left when he dropped him off here that night. He looks over at the tall man as he shuffles through a stack of papers on his kitchen counter.

"It has to be here", he hears Yunho say, 'I know I didn't throw it out."

He had arrived only a few moments after Yunho had gotten home himself. Yunho rushed him in and eagerly began looking for the note that Yeosang had requested.

Yeosang sighs. "I...don't know what to do, Yunho."

"What do you mean?", Yunho calls from the kitchen.

"First of all, I have no idea who saved me that night. Second, Seonghwa just...gah."

"What about Seonghwa?"

"He wasn't the one who saved me."

Yunho's tone changes as he switched cabinets. "What does that matter? Does it change your feelings for him or something?"

"No...but something about the whole thing seems off and I don't know if it's about Seonghwa or not."

"Don't assume things before you have any evidence to back it up."

"That's what agents do."

"But is that what Kang Yeosang does?"

Yeosang's eyes widen at Yunho's words. "What…"

"You're more than just an agent. You can make your decisions based on more than just a flash in the pan thought. You're better than that."

Yeosang nods. "You're...right. As always, Yunho, you're right."

He hears Yunho chuckle. "You know it."

"I'm hoping this note will lead me to the truth. Then we'll figure out to do from there."

"Attaboy."

Yunho once again moves to another cabinet, looking through another stack of papers in there. Yeosang looks over and decides to ask the other a question about their conversation earlier. 

"So...you and Jongho, eh?"

He hears Yunho bang something loudly and exclaim, "Fuck."

"Something the matter?"

"No, no, everything is okay. Just fine. Only banged my still recovering head on the cabinet but I'll be fine."

"That doesn't sound fine."

"I'm fine."

Yeosang laughs, knowing Yunho got flustered by the question. "Is there...something going on that I should know about?"

"Not anything that isn't only my concern, no."

"Mmmhmmm."

Yeosang just shifts his weight around the couch, still waiting, but not entertained by Yunho's flustered behavior. "I thought you liked Mingi?"

"Once again, that's my concern."

"You're impossible, Yunho."

"I know."

Yeosang leans back on couch, making himself comfortable for the next 5 minutes of silence as Yunho looks through yet another stack of papers. After a little bit however, Yunho's blue head shoots up a little with a smile on his face.

"I found it!", Yunho exclaims loudly.

Yeosang stands up, heading towards Yunho's location. He sees his blue-haired friend crouched under his kitchen island, filing through the papers in the cabinet. He internally sighs. Yunho pokes his head out further and stands up, holding a piece of paper victoriously.

"Here you go", Yunho says, handing the paper to Yeosang.

"Oh my god, the note."

Yunho nods. "Took a minute but I found it. I hope you can find out the truth, Yeosang.

Yeosang looks at the paper and reads over it. It's the same note from that night in the same sloppy handwriting.

"Thanks, Yunho", Yeosang says. He turns quickly in the direction of the hallway and yells out, "Bye to you too, Jongho!"

He hears a crash come from the hallway and lets out a light laugh. He sees Yunho's eyes widen at him. Yeosang quickly shrugs and walks towards the door, ready to figure out the mystery behind who saved him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Interesting. You spend all this time avoiding me then you come and seek _me_ out", San says with a smirk, "Isn't that right, Park Seonghwa?"

"Cut the crap, San, I'd only come here if I needed something."

"Wow, so cold, Park Seonghwa. So cruel. Not even a 'hello'." San fake pouts, but still with an underlying smirk underneath.

Seonghwa rolls his eyes. "Hello."

"Hi." San smiles slightly and waves at the other. He quickly drops it however, making Seonghwa question the San's jarring shift in behavior.

"You're insane." Seonghwa takes a slight step backwards.

San smiles again, this time a bit more sinister. "I know. But you're not here to tell me what I already know. So tell me what it is you want."

Seonghwa sighs and opens his mouth to ask the other a question that he doubts he'll get a proper answer to. "Did you happen to save Yeosang from a hunter recently?"

"Me? Save Kang Yeosang from a vampire? What makes you think I'd do such a thing?"

"You seem to have some weird obsession with him, considering you sent Wooyoung after him."

"To be fair, I didn't approve the attack on your human friend."

"That wasn't the point."

San looks Seonghwa up and down. "Oh! I get it. You're jealous I'm taking an interest in your little boyfriend. Am I right?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "He's not my boyfriend."

"He was, though. And I'm betting you want him back."

"How do you-"

"How many times do I have to state that I know way more than you think?"

"You're nothing but a glorified stalker with fangs. Do you know that?"

San completely ignores the other's statement. "I'll never understand why you choose to have human emotions, when you're a creature who feeds off darkness."

"Unlike you, I don't buy into the evil vampire stereotype. I live my life the way I live it. And I like to help people."

San raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me while I barf."

Seonghwa looks unamused. "You're extremely annoying."

San shrugs. "So I've been told already today."

"Let's get back on topic here. Did you or did you not save Yeosang?"

San strokes his chin in an almost condescending manner. "Normally, I'd like to mess with you and say I did but I'm feeling generous today. So no, I did not save Kang Yeosang from any hunter."

"Dammit." The only person he would have thought that saved Yeosang would have been San but now that the possibility has been eliminated, he doesn't know who else it could be. Maybe it was just some random vampire? He just didn't know.

"You think so small. There's gotta be something else you want, Park Seonghwa."

Seonghwa gives San a disgusted look. "Keep my full name out of your mouth. You say it too much."

"And you get in my way too much so we're even. Something's on your mind so why not just state your request."

"How about stop putting my friends in danger?"

San scoffs. "That's funny. Sorry, can't do that. Maybe stay out of my business and I'll stay out of yours."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Seonghwa gives San a stern expression. The other just rolls his eyes.

"I'm bored", San says, "You're boring me, Park Seonghwa."

"Do I look like I'm playing here?", Seonghwa asks darkly, "We're not here for your amusement. Lives are on the line and you're acting like we're your playthings."

San gives a short chuckle. "Oh, Seonghwa...in the grand scheme of things, the world is my plaything."

Seonghwa's hand quickly balls up into a fist and he grits his teeth. "I think we're done here."

"Hm...maybe you're not as much of a killer as Eden made you out to be."

Seonghwa's expression shifts in an instant and his eyes widen. His fist loosens and a wave of shock washes over him.

"Eden...how do you know him?", Seonghwa asks. It was a name he had not heard in years.

San laughs in a dark tone, throwing Seonghwa off even more. "He's...an old friend. He's your maker, isn't he?"

Seonghwa shifts his body, not knowing what to do. There was no way San should know all of this and yet he does.

"He...was. How do you know all this?"

"I know everything, Park Seonghwa. I know how you were turned, I know how Choi Jongho was turned. I even know...how Kang Yeosang was turned."

Seonghwa feels uneven and he has no idea how to react to anything he's hearing. He stumbles over his own words, trying to form coherent thoughts.

"Yeo...Yeosang?"

"I know everything. There is no secret you can hide from me."

"I…"

San cocks his head to the left. "Speechless, are we?"

"Shut up!"

"Ooh, I've hit a sensitive spot. You care about Kang Yeosang too much. He'll be your downfall."

Seonghwa's thoughts won't seem to form words as he wishes he could tell San that he's wrong. But all he can do is stare in utter shock and silence.

"Oh! And lastly...I know what you are, Park Seonghwa. You've changed since I last saw you."

Seonghwa's eyes grow impossibly wider. "What do you mean you last saw me?"

"We have more history than you think. But that's a story for another time. A magician can't reveal all his tricks after all."

Seonghwa reaches his arm out as he walks toward the other. San backs away and smirks at the other.

"Remember, most importantly, Park Seonghwa", San starts.

Seonghwa stops and stares in disbelief at San's sly expression. The other knows he has Seonghwa at his fingertips. Tears start to form in Seonghwa's eyes.

"You can't escape the past."

Seonghwa's mouth hangs agape. Did he hear that clearly? There's no way the other can know so much about his past...right? San winks at the other and disappears in the blink of an eye. 

Seonghwa wants to scream. It happened again. He let San get into his head. Seonghwa stares off into the distance as he feels his emotions reach a boiling point. 

Flashbacks of his past flood into his mind. Things he never wanted to think about again. People he never wanted to see again. Tears started to fall down Seonghwa's cheeks slowly.

San treated all of this like a game. And Seonghwa had let him win.


	11. Marching Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang contemplates his decisions and San decides to plan his final strike.

_"Yeosang!", he hears someone scream from behind him. He can't turn his head around to see who it is but he can only assume it's Seonghwa who came...just a little too late._

_The man, whose knife is still pressed against Yeosang's skin, snaps his head towards the source of the noise. Yeosang wishes he could see what was going on but he gets a slight idea when the man's expression twists into one of disgust. He can see the man's red eyes under his hood and they narrow themselves at the figure behind Yeosang._

_"Fuck off", the man says, "This is my hunt."_

_Yeosang wishes he could see the whole picture but all he can do is look ahead of him. The pain in his shoulder kept expanding and he was finding it extremely difficult to stay conscious. The man slowly removes the knife from the long gash in Yeosang's shoulder, which only makes the pain worse. Yeosang feels the urge to cry and scream but nothing comes out, just like the last 3 times he tried._

_"How about you fuck off? Don't fucking touch him!"_

_By this point, Yeosang knew it was Seonghwa. His voice and tone gave it away. Yeosang notices the man's expression around the eyes change. It was almost as if he was...smirking._

_"You can attack if you please but remember...his life is on the line here. You come closer and he's a goner."_

_The man looks over at Yeosang and reaches up to touch the human's face. He strokes Yeosang's cheek softly and turns his attention back to Seonghwa behind him._

_"You're so pretty", the vampire says as Yeosang just stands there, under the vampire's trance, "You'd be an excellent charmer. It's a shame…"_

_"Get your hands off of him", he hears Seonghwa say._

_The man just simply laughs in the darkest tone Yeosang had ever heard. "I believe you're forgetting who has the power here."_

Rain started pouring as Yeosang made his way back home that night. As he approached his house, he stops. He turns back to the street and lets the rain wash over him as he let his thoughts get the best of him.

_Who am I? What am I?_

No one had an answer. His existence shouldn't be a thing. Someone can't be half-vampire and half-human. It just doesn't happen. He shouldn't be alive, there must have been some mistake at the hospital. Yeosang head starts spinning at the idea of everything just being one giant fever dream.

He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know the truth behind everything. But he was afraid. And knowing would change everything...

The rain falls down his face quickly and he knows his hair and clothes are getting soaked. But he could hardly bring himself to care in that moment. His entire being was engulfed by want and fear. The want to know about who he is and the fear looming behind the truth when it finally revealed itself.

Thoughts prod at the back of his mind. He wants to be human again, so that he could watch over his mom in peace and live a normal life. But on the other hand, his thoughts were telling him that maybe he should just let go...let his vampire side take over. Everything in him was screaming at him to just give in. The voices in his head urge him to take the final step beyond humanity and just become a monster.

Yeosang swallowed heavily. He would never do that. Even if every bone in his body told him it was his fate to be a bloodsucking monstrosity, he could never bring himself to do it. And he never knew if that was because he was half-human or if he was Kang Yeosang.

No matter what he wants, he has no choice in the matter. He knows how much easier it would be to only be a human or a vampire. But he was the combination of both, never really being accepted by either, although he has seen that vampires accept him way more than humans do.

Nothing can keep from his main goal, which is to protect people. He just wishes it didn't involve so much pain, whether it be physical or emotional.

His mind flickers to the night that he was turned...the flashes of night and the smell of blood. It's all so clear, even now. His maker's smug expression as he looked at him. The pain he felt when the vampire's blood seeped into his wound…

Yeosang winces slightly, before coming back to reality. The rain falls down his cheeks as if they were the tears he wished to so desperately muster up. Everything was so different than what he imagined what it'd be like. He always imagined he would grow up to be something great, and now he's unable to grow up at all...

He sighs heavily before looking up. His eyes stung as the rain hits them. He closes them and just allows the rain to hit his face.

After a few minutes, he locks his eyes on the front door. He realizes his mom was probably wondering where was. Therefore, he finally makes his way out of the rain and onto his porch. Slowly, he walks into his house and prepares himself to give his everything to work tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

San points to a board with three pictures on it. "These are our targets. Rank S Park Seonghwa, Rank B Choi Jongho, Rank A Kang Yeosang-"

He's quickly interrupted by Wooyoung, however. "Wait, I thought Park Seonghwa and Choi Jongho were rank A and C."

"I bumped them each up a level. They're much more of a threat than I could have imagined."

"I understand changing Choi Jongho's, considering he flung me into wooden crates, but why Park Seonghwa?"

"I discovered recently that I used to know Park Seonghwa. Trust me, he is dangerous. But...he's also one of us."

"One of us?"

"Eden turned him. He can't escape us."

"Eden? That crazy bastard? How?"

"It was before he died, but Seonghwa is about 200 years old and he was turned back then. And you know I was around back then. I've seen what Park Seonghwa is capable of."

"Oh…"

"But anyway, we get these 3 to see things our way and the Bureau will never be a threat to us ever again."

Wooyoung scoffs. "As if they'd ever see things our way. I think we're underestimating them, San."

San just smiles, albeit with a looming sense of mischievousness in it. "Oh trust me...I have my ways."

Wooyoung tilts his head in confusion. "Like what?"

"That will be revealed in due time. I'm assigning you to Choi Jongho, make sure he becomes one of us."

Wooyoung bites his lip, clearly wanting to ask questions but knowing that San doesn't like people questioning his methods.

"Okay", he just says.

"I believe in you, Wooyoung. Don't let me down."

Wooyoung nods, but remains quiet. San dismisses him afterward, once again telling Wooyoung that his task is very important. He silently walks out, still confused as to what exactly was going on, but not questioning it. The second he's gone, San smirks and looks behind him.

"And for your assignment…", San says, turning around.

A figure appears and sits there in the same chair that San sat in during his last meeting with Wooyoung. The figure looks over the cards still scattered on the table and picks one up.

The Ace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll be off for the next few days, Hongjoong", Mingi says abruptly.

Hongjoong stops typing to look over at his secretary, who was packing a few things into his bag. "Excuse me?"

"I have to go for a little bit, Hongjoong. I'm using my vacation time or whatever."

"What for?"

"Just some personal matters."

"I can't just let you off without a reason, Mingi."

The secretary stays silent as he throws even more into his bag. He doesn't look up as he grabs his jacket off the back of his chair.

"Mingi, answer me."

Mingi lets out a loud sigh. "You changed me, Hongjoong."

Hongjoong raises an eyebrow, confused. "What are you…"

Mingi doesn't look up as he picks up his belongings and walks out from behind his desk. "I have to go now."

"Mingi-"

Mingi finally looks up and makes direct eye contact with Hongjoong, who looks hurt and confused. "Not many things I did in life are genuine. I just wanted you to know that everything I did for you...it was genuine."

Hongjoong's confusion only grows as Mingi bows at him. The secretary grabs his bag and quickly walks past the Chief's desk.

"Maybe things could have turned out differently for us", Mingi says softly as he reaches for the door.

"What do you mean, Mingi?"

The secretary just throws the door open and runs out before he could answer.

Hongjoong yells after him, still confused. "Mingi!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa shows a picture of Wooyoung from 4 years ago to Yeosang as they walk. "Maybe if we find out more about him, we can find more about San and find about your turning."

Yeosang looks over at the picture and shakes his head. "I'd rather focus on the case for now."

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "You don't want to find out about your own story?"

"I can focus on my problems if I wanted to but the case is our main priority."

"That's respectable."

Their walk comes to an end as they reach a door at the end of the hallway. Seonghwa steps ahead and pulls the door handle down before pushing in.

They're greeted with a man turning around in his chair to face them. "Thanks for knocking", he says.

Seonghwa bows and says, "Sorry, Minho."

Minho just rolls his eyes. "How can I help you?"

"Minho, we need the security tapes from the last crime scene for case 448", Yeosang says.

Minho looks up at the half-vampire. "Why don't you just ask my subordinate who was on scene...Yunho."

"We need them directly from you."

"But...why?"

"Minho, please. It's for the case."

Minho just rolls his eyes and begins typing away at his computer. He types something into the computer and says, "How much of it do you need?"

"All of it", Seonghwa says, "If it's from the scene and any of us were there, we need it."

Minho nods. "I'll burn you a copy and have it deposited to your evidence folder."

"Thank you, Minho."

The tech analyst nods again before turning back to his computer. Seonghwa and Yeosang walk out of the room and head their separate ways, now even more certain they can solve the case.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho looks over the evidence in the folder again, knowing he's missing something. The clue that could tell him exactly who tampered with the evidence.

He looks over at Yunho, who's currently printing some papers from his computer. The blue haired agent smiles as he looks over at Jongho, who internally panics when they make eye contact.

"Hey, cutie", Yunho says.

Jongho's eyes widen and he can feel a blush creep up his cheeks. "Um...hi", he says sheepishly.

"You still looking at the same case report?"

Jongho nods. "I feel like I'm so close to a breakthrough."

Yunho lets out a small chuckle. "Look at that, you sound like an official agent who's on the case."

Jongho doesn't even think before flipping to the next page and saying, "I am."

Yunho stops what he's doing to completely look over at Jongho. "What?"

"I am on the case. Mingi put me on it."

Once those words come out of his mouth however, he realizes what he was saying and slaps his hand over his mouth.

"What did you just say?", Yunho asks, "You were put on the case officially?!"

Yunho starts raising his voice. Jongho just stares as he says, "I wasn't supposed to say anything."

"Too late now, what the fuck?!"

Jongho looks around, seeing that the other cubicles are noticing the noise.

"Only if you calm down."

Yunho breathes in and nods. "Whatever."

"Okay so, Mingi came up to me a few days ago and told me Chief was putting me on the case officially. It's my first case so I was excited. Now, I'm trying my best to help."

"Mingi told you? Hongjoong didn't give you the orders himself?"

"No one was supposed to know…", Jongho says, "Mingi told me not to tell anyone. It just kinda slipped out."

Yunho breathes in and out heavily, clearly angry.

"Come with me."

Yunho grabs Jongho's wrist and pulls him away from the cubicle, towards Hongjoong's office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

San turns the corner into an alleyway, on his way back to his home. As he looks up however, he's greeted with the unhappy face of Yeosang.

"Oh, Kang Yeosang", San says.

Yeosang remains in his place as he says, "San."

"How can I help you?"

"Cut the bullshit."

San shrugs his shoulders. "You're the one who knew where I would be this time. I should applaud you, honestly."

Yeosang shakes his head. "I don't need your applause. I only came here to ask a question."

San smirks. "You're hilarious, Kang Yeosang. What's the question?"

Yeosang takes a deep breath. "Did you happen to kill a dozen people and rip their faces off before leaving them scattered around town?"

San raises an eyebrow. "Did I do...what?"

"You heard me. Did you or did you not drain the blood from people, rip their faces off, and leave their bodies scattered around town?"

San puts his hand outward in the direction of Yeosang and points. "You and Park Seonghwa...always asking me such similar questions."

"What do you mean? Seonghwa?"

"He came to me yesterday with a similar question."

"Wait, he talked to you yesterday."

"Went out of his way to find me and everything...just to ask me if I saved you from a hunter."

"He...came to ask you about that yesterday?"

San feigns a gasp. "Did you not know that he came to me?"

Yeosang grits his teeth and whispers under his breath. "More like he was supposed to be researching an important case, not worrying about my problems."

San, however, hears it. "So he went behind your back, huh?"

"Wow, there's really no privacy anymore when it comes to whispering. It's none of your business."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say this 'important case' is this vampire murder case that you accused me of being apart of."

"I didn't accuse you of anything. I just asked, to which you never answered, by the way."

"You didn't deny that being the case."

Yeosang just sighs. "San, I'm going to have to take you in as a suspect."

"Take me in?"

"I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."

San still looks a bit confused as Yeosang reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a pair of handcuffs. Something registers in San's head as his expression changes slightly into one of hatred.

"What the hell?"

"You have a right to remain silent, San."

Yeosang walks towards him with the handcuffs in his hand, intending to put them on San's wrists. San doesn't move as the other approaches. However, when Yeosang reaches his spot and reaches out, San steps to the side nonchalantly, avoiding the other as Yeosang attempts to handcuff the other. Yeosang's eyes widen as he misses and feels his body become unbalanced. He almost trips but is able to catch himself before he can.

As Yeosang catches his breath and is able to regain his composure, he looks over at San. The elder vampire just stands there, awaiting Yeosang's next action.

"You're insane. This is evading capture."

"Indeed it is. But I've been alive since before the piano was invented, and I've evaded way worse than you."

Yeosang finally stands back up straight. He gives San a death glare, to which the other seems to not notice, or rather doesn't care. 

"Bastard."

"Oh, I'm very much aware."

Yeosang is growing annoyed by the second and it's showing on his expression. However, he keeps his professional composure up as San tries to pry into him.

San tilts his head at Yeosang. "Now, Kang Yeosang. I'm going to tell you the same thing I asked Park Seonghwa. There is something else you want from me, so why don't you just ask?", he asks.

Yeosang looks taken aback by what San just said. He looks for any sign of joking on the vampire's face. There was none. Just like when San asked him at the club, he had the same oddly genuine expression.

"Why can't you just leave us alone? Why do you have to keep coming back and trying to get us to join your clan?", Yeosang says with a dry mouth.

San lets out a soft, yet condescending, laugh. Yeosang just awaits the other's answer.

"I knew it."

"Sure."

"Kang Yeosang, darling", San says, "You don't realize what potential you really have."

San walks towards him, making Yeosang tense up a bit. The vampire seems to notice it. "Why so tense?", he asks.

"I don't know", Yeosang says, "Maybe the fact that you're plotting against me and my friends. The fact that you could kill me if you wanted to."

San chuckles under his breath. "I don't want to kill you. I want you to join my clan. There's a clear difference."

"But you want to kill my friends. And I don't want to join your clan."

Yeosang's voice is stern but San is undeterred. He lightly laughs and just stares at Yeosang condescendingly.

"You act like you have a choice in the matter, Kang Yeosang."

Yeosang's expression changes into one of confusion. "What does that even mean…"

"You're so much more-"

"Yeosang!", the half-vampire heard from behind San, interrupting the latter.

His head snaps to behind the elder vampire. San steps aside as well, looking behind himself. They both see Seonghwa standing there, eyes glowing red.

"Get away from him", he says, turning his attention towards San.

The black and red haired vampire scowls at the approaching agent. Seonghwa just gives him a dark expression, starting to show his fangs a bit.

San tilts his head. "I don't enjoy being interrupted."

Seonghwa's eye starts twitching in anger as Yeosang watches the tension grow between the two. San completely turns his attention to Seonghwa, leaving Yeosang helplessly confused. Seonghwa looks ready to pounce.

San's expression quickly grows angry as he watches Seonghwa run towards him. Yeosang can only see his partner barrel towards San at superhuman speed, but can do nothing to stop the ensuing fight. San easily dodges the attack, however, and gives one of his own. He grips his arm under Seonghwa's shoulder and slams the other backwards, making him tumble to the ground.

Yeosang's eyes widen as Seonghwa's back meets the ground. San looks down at him and smirks.

"Seonghwa!", Yeosang screams out. Seonghwa looks like he's about to get up when San buries his foot under the other's body and kicks as hard as he can. This causes Seonghwa to flip over onto his stomach and cough up a bit of blood.

Yeosang starts internally panicking, trying to figure out what to do. San looks back up at him.

"I think the difference in power is clear, is it not, my dear Kang Yeosang?"

Yeosang's breathing starts slowing as the panic sets in even further. He wanted to run over to make sure Seonghwa was okay but he didn't know what San would do.

"What's your reason for doing all of this, San?!"

"It's simply...because I'm bored."

San smirks darkly as he looks back down at Seonghwa, who's still struggling to get up. Yeosang grits his teeth at his nonchalant expression.

"You're...bored? So you kill people for fun?"

San looks up at Yeosang. "It's entertaining, yes. It's an art form."

"An art form? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Would you rather I say sport? Or would you rather me pretend that I actually care for the lives of pathetic humans?"

Yeosang begins visibly shaking in anger. "They're not your toys!"

San just continues smirking as Yeosang raises his voice. "Sounds like something I've been told before."

Yeosang feels his vampire side wanting to come out. San just looks back down once again at Seonghwa and rests his foot on his back before slowly applying pressure.

"Do you remember telling me that, Park Seonghwa? Regret it now?"

Yeosang's eyes widen as Seonghwa's body is driven further into the ground. Seonghwa looks defeated as San kicks him further down.

"Stop! You're hurting him!"

San's eyes shoot up to look at a pleaing Yeosang. His smug expression remains unwavering.

"You can attack if you please but remember...his life is on the line here. You come closer and he's a goner."

Yeosang's eyes widen suddenly at the other's words. It immediately clicked in his head that he heard that exact phrasing before.

San lets out a dark laugh. "Does that sound familiar to you, Kang Yeosang? Perhaps...your maker."

_"You can attack if you please but remember...his life is on the line here. You come closer and he's a goner."_

It was the exact words the vampire who turned him said to Seonghwa when he was trying to save Yeosang from being turned.

"How do you-"

"I know everything, Kang Yeosang", San says, cutting him off, "It's up to you, however, if you want to find out."

Yeosang remains silent, only watching as San removes his foot from Seonghwa's back. San doesn't break eye contact with Yeosang as he does so.

"So goes the fate of those who get in my way. It's up to you, although the choice is already quite clear."

San takes one last look down at Seonghwa, who looks on the verge of passing out. In Yeosang's head, his thoughts conflict between his worry for Seonghwa and his worry that if his partner was taken out by San so easily...what chance do they have to take him down?

The smirk from his face doesn't fade as San waves goodbye at Yeosang before disappearing into the shadows. 

Yeosang immediately goes to check on Seonghwa. The half-vampire tries to flip his partner onto his back again, and once he's successful, goes to make sure he's still conscious.

Seonghwa's breathing is heavy as he turns his head to look at Yeosang. The latter looks relieved that his partner is okay, looking on the verge of tears.

"Let's get you to Yunho's", Yeosang says as he picks Seonghwa up into his arms. His legs are heavy as they move towards Yunho's apartment, his head filled with muddled thoughts and regrets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you crazy?!", Yunho says as he bursts into Hongjoong's office. Jongho follows closely behind him, albeit more calm.

Hongjoong looks up from typing at his keyboard and his eyes widen at the sudden entrance. "Uh...hello, Yunho."

"You assigned a fucking newly turned kid to the case officially?! What kind of bullshit are you on?!"

Yunho was fuming and it was evident on his face. He walked over to Hongjoong's desk and slams his hands on it.

"I have no idea what you are talking about", Hongjoong says.

"What...you had Mingi put Jongho on the vampire murder case as an official agent! Why would you do that?!"

Hongjoong stands up quickly. "Yunho, I am first going to need you to calm down."

Yunho tilts his head. "Calm?"

"Let me figure this out."

Yunho takes a step back and takes a deep breath. "Fine."

"Okay. I did not assign Jongho to any case so I have no idea what you mean. He still requires training before I throw him out in the field."

Yunho's expression changes into confusion. "What do you mean you didn't? Mingi said that Jongho was officially on the case now."

Jongho interjects. "He said that the orders came directly from you."

"I have no idea where these orders came from because I certainly didn't give them."

Yunho and Jongho look at each other in confusion. "So, what does that mean?", Yunho asks.

Hongjoong shrugs. "I have no idea. I didn't assign Jongho to the vampire case like Mingi said I did."

Hongjoong and Yunho continue to argue back and forth. They don't notice as Jongho slips out of the room. 

He walks out of the office and back into the cubicles. His mind was riddled with questions. Was he not actually on the case? Did Mingi lie? If he did, then...why?

Jongho makes his way around the cubicles, looking for a certain someone to question them. He knew that Mingi might be gone but it was worth a shot.

He spots the other's brown hair peeking out from behind Yeosang's cubicle.

"Song Mingi", Jongho calls out.

The secretary peeks his head out, in an almost panicked state. "Yes?"

"Would you like to explain some things?"

"I'm currently very busy, but I will answer when I return."

"Are you leaving, Mingi?", Jongho asks the secretary as he leaves from behind Yeosang's desk.

Mingi freezes in his tracks when he gets past Jongho. The vampire could tell he was in a hurry.

"Um...yes. I was leaving Agent Park and Agent Kang a reminder to turn in their daily reports in my absence."

Jongho nods and looks around the desk to see a note on the desk. Mingi starts walking again.

"Mingi."

Jongho calls out sternly to the other. Mingi sighs and turns around.

"Yes?"

Jongho smiles. "See you when you get back."

Mingi's expression almost looks relieved. "Of course."

"Have a nice break. How long will it be?"

"Um...maybe a week?"

"We'll miss you around here...you and your...cologne, which apparently you aren't wearing today..."

Mingi plasters on a slight smile. "I'll see you, Jongho."

Jongho tilts his head as Mingi turns to leave. He had never seen the secretary so panicked.

"Hey, Mingi."

The Chief's secretary turns back around, awaiting what Jongho had to say.

"Why do you smell like a vampire?"


	12. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongho goes missing as Yeosang and Yunho discover more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month, I've been very busy with school lol

_ Seonghwa purses his lips tightly as his eyes shift between the masked vampire's face and the back of Yeosang's head. Any move he makes could cost his partner his life. _

_ "You care about your food? Why is that? They're only here for sustenance", the vampire says, bringing his hand up to Yeosang's hair. He runs his fingers through the soft locks, the sight making Seonghwa's blood boil. _

_ "He's mine!", Seonghwa says, so loud that Yeosang would flinch if he could move. The words came out in almost a growl, as if Seonghwa had something stolen from him. _

_ The vampire laughs. Yeosang can see his eyes flicker back to his face. "Don't worry, I don't plan to make a meal out of this one. I have...special plans for him." _

_ Yeosang has no idea what that could mean, but it couldn't be any good considering he was standing there with a giant gash in his shoulder. The vampire's eyes narrow a little as he turns his attention to the human's wounds. _

_ "What the fuck are you talking about?" _

_ If only Yeosang's life wasn't on the line, Seonghwa would tear this man to shreds. The man just smirked as he walked around to the other side of Yeosang, to where his wound was. There was blood everywhere, all over the upper left side of Yeosang's body.  _

_ The man removes his hand from Yeosang's hand and moves it down to his shoulder. Yeosang can feel his shoulder burning in pain but can do nothing about it. The man presses a finger inside the wound and all Yeosang wants to do is scream, the pain is so intense. _

_ Seonghwa watches from behind. He can't see Yeosang's face but he can only assume the other is suffering. He wants to help him so badly but it may cause both of their lives... _

_ The man pulls out a bloody finger from Yeosang's wound and brings it up to Yeosang's face. He parts Yeosang's lips slightly with his other hand and then sticks his bloodied finger into Yeosang's mouth. The coppery taste hits Yeosang's taste buds and he wants to gag. But he still has no control over his body so all he can do is allow the man to feed him his own blood. _

_ "This should get you out of the newly turned phase faster, young one", he says, as Yeosang's face remains unmoving. _

_ "What the fuck are you doing?", Seonghwa screams. This is all he can do until he can find an opening to save Yeosang. _

_ The man turns his attention to Seonghwa, who is absolutely fuming by that point. "What does it look like?" _

_ Seonghwa takes a step forward but the man brings the knife up to Yeosang's neck. He can't see but he can feel the cold metal press against his flesh. _

_ "What did I tell you?", the man says to Seonghwa. The older vampire stutters as his lover is being tortured right in front of him. _

_ "Good boy", the man says as he turns his attention back to Yeosang once again. _

_ "As for you", he says, "It's time." _

_ Yeosang is on the brink of collapse, maybe even death. The only thing keeping him up is the trance he's under and it doesn't seem to be faltering. _

_ The man brings his knife away from Yeosang's neck and to his own wrist. He lifts his arm above Yeosang's wound, with neither Seonghwa nor Yeosang knowing what the man is doing. _

_ "For blood, for brothers, and for ATEEZ", the vampire says, slicing open his wrist and allowing the blood to drip. The drops slowly fall onto Yeosang's shoulder and into the gash. The second the first drop made its way into the wound, Yeosang could feel his senses coming back to him all at once, hitting him like a brick. _

_ Yeosang lets out a scream as pain takes over his body. That's all he can register as more of the vampire's blood falls into the open wound. He quickly falls to the ground, unable to even stand anymore. _

_ The vampire laughs as Seonghwa watches in horror, still unable to do anything due to the vampire still standing over Yeosang, still in control over whether his partner lives or dies. He was helpless to watch as his lover writhes in pain. _

_ The vampire's blood makes its way into Yeosang's bloodstream, blending itself into his system. Yeosang suddenly freezes, his body no longer responding to anything, but not in the same way he was under the trance. It was as if his own body was rejecting the foreign blood, causing it to shut down. _

_ "Yeosang!", Seonghwa yells out. _

_ Yeosang can only turn his head to look at his lover, his eyes filled with tears and a call for help. _

San stands on the roof of one of the shops in town. He looks over the people walking the streets below.

"It's only a matter of time", he says to himself.

That day was particularly quiet, with the only noises being the wind and the light conversation of the people talking below. It was the type of day that San enjoyed, one where he could take it easy.

But he also knew something was awry that day, and that at any moment, he would see the next phase of his plan come together. The corner of his lip bends up into his usual smirk.

As if on queue, footsteps start becoming audible from behind him. San shifts his eyes slightly to the left. 

"So you've finally been found out, huh?", San says.

He turns around quickly, making eye contact with the person approaching him. The other freezes, but San just smirks.

"Song Mingi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where did Jongho go?", Yunho asks, scanning the cubicle area. Hongjoong stands behind him, looking confused.

"Yunho, what's the meaning of thi-"

Hongjoong is cut off however by Yunho quickly turning around. The look in his eyes is dark, which scares the Chief slightly.

"Yunho?", Hongjoong asks. 

The younger doesn't answer, just staring at the Chief with an unchanging expression. His face is completely still but his eyes are filled with what looked like...hate?

Hongjoong blinks and suddenly Yunho's face is back to normal. No more dark expression, only a bit of worry. The Chief wonders if he imagined what he just saw.

"Yunho?", he asks.

The younger looks down at him. "Yeah?"

Hongjoong shakes his head. "Nothing, I thought I saw something but it must've just been my imagination."

Yunho sighs and nods lightly. "We have to find Jongho, he just disappeared while we were talking in your office."

"More like while you were screaming at me in my office."

Yunho's cheeks go a bit red from embarrassment. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Apology accepted. But I am curious as to why Mingi would assign Jongho to a case without my approval."

"It's quite a mystery. And now they're both gone…"

"You don't think something happened to them, do you?"

Yunho's eyes widen slightly. "Like what?"

"I mean, this city is quite literally crawling with vampires. And I guarantee Jongho isn't very popular with them, being a vampire who hunts his own kind and all that."

"And Mingi?"

"I'm not sure really. He just abruptly announced he was leaving for vacation and then left without another word. He started saying some weird stuff to me before he left, too."

"Like what?"

"Like...how I changed him?"

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "You changed him? What did you do? Bite him?"

Hongjoong shakes his head quickly, a split second reaction to the question. "I...don't know what he meant. He said that everything he did for me was genuine and that he wished things were different for us, whatever that means."

Yunho chuckles a little. "Hongjoong...it sounds like Mingi confessed his feelings to you."

The Chief tilts his head to the left. "His feelings?"

"Oh, Hongjoong, you really are dense sometimes. Let me spell it out for you. Song Mingi is in love with you."

Hongjoong's eyes widen. "He...what?"

"He. Is. In. Love. With. You."

"I heard you the first time. But I need an explanation."

"Wow, you really are dense."

Hongjoong clicks his tongue. "I'm your boss, you know."

"Yeah, whatever. The whole office knows he's in love with you, everyone except you apparently."

"He...loves me? Like in a romantic way?"

"Duh. Goddammit Hongjoong, you cannot be  _ this _ dense."

"In my defense, I haven't been romantically involved since I divorced my wife like 6 years ago."

"But anyway, yes. That's what he meant by his words."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"To be honest...I used to have a crush on Mingi but I quickly realized that he liked you instead. But now I like someone else, so it's fine. I just thought you deserved to know that he liked you now that he told you himself."

"Choi Jongho, yes? The one you like?"

"I...I like him. A lot, actually. I really hope he's okay. I just want him back here, where I know he's safe."

"We will find him. It's top priority now. I'll come as well and call the dispatch units to come out."

"Thank you, Hongjoong."

"That's Chief to you."

"Yeah yeah."

Yunho's phone rings as Hongjoong turns to go back to his office and grab his stuff. He pulls it out and looks at the caller ID to see Yeosang.

As he hits the pick up button, he hears heavy breathing on the other end of the line. "Yeosang?"

"Where are you?", Yeosang asks in a panicked tone.

Yunho breathes in and out heavily. "We have a problem over here."

"What do you mean? I'm at your apartment, Seonghwa was hurt badly by San, I need you to help him."

Yunho freezes. "We can't find Jongho."

"You...can't find Jongho?"

Yunho sighs. "No, he just disappeared. And so did Mingi."

"Here's what we're gonna do. You come here and patch up Seonghwa and I'll head over there to look for Jongho, okay?"

"Alright, sounds good. I'm on my way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Choi Jongho knows now, huh?", San asks Mingi as he leans back in his chair. The younger looks over at him with a blank expression.

"To be fair, that wasn't part of the plan but I was leaving anyway", Mingi responds.

San nods. "And I expect you'll deal with him accordingly."

"Indeed. I've already gotten started."

San just smirks. He knows that Mingi is usually pretty good at cleaning up his own messes.

"Shall we continue with the plan then?", he asks.

"Of course."

Mingi pulls up a chair next to the desk that San was currently sitting at. The older looks at him with a sinister smile.

"I don't say this to just anyone but I missed having you around here", San says.

Mingi smiles in return, his a bit less dark in nature. "I bet you did. What would you do without me?"

San clicks his tongue. "I try to be nice for once, and I get sass in return."

"Some things never change."

San laughs, with Mingi sending the underlying evil in his tone. He had never heard his elder laugh in a non-evil way, which makes him wonder what that would sound like. Mingi is brought back to reality by the sound of San's voice.

"It's good to have you back, partner", San says, smirking.

Mingi smiles and nods. The two don't notice Wooyoung listening from behind the doorway, peeking in.

"Partner?", Wooyoung whispers to himself. His eyes shift from San to Mingi, seeing the connection. The two continue talking amongst themselves, unaware of the silver-haired vampire currently watching them.

"I guess I'm just fucking nothing then", he says quietly.

Wooyoung quickly turns away from the two before walking away. "Guess they don't need me anymore."

"But now let's address the elephant in the room", San says.

"Hm?", Mingi asks, raising an eyebrow. He picks up a trinket off the desk. San eyes him up and down before opening his mouth..

"We had to delay our plans again."

Mingi nods. "We'll get back on tr-"

San interrupts him. "I wasn't finished. We had to delay our plans again. All because you fell in love with that Chief of the Bureau."

Mingi stops messing with his trinket and looks up abruptly. "I what?"

"You know it, too. You delayed our plans because you wanted to be with that human Kim Hongjoong."

Mingi looks over San's stature. He seemed annoyed but Mingi still shakes his head. "I do not love Kim Hongjoong, you have no idea what you're talking about."

San sits up in his chair as Mingi grips the side of the desk. "I think you do. I thought you knew better than to love a human."

"I don't love him. I would never love a human."

"I don't like lies, Mingi. If you didn't love him, you'd have no problem with him being gone, and yet you do."

"I can be intrigued by humans too, I was one."

"So you don't love Kim Hongjoong?"

"No."

Mingi's tone grew darker, as if he was getting mad. San just smirks. "Then why do you sound so mad?"

"I don't like to repeat myself."

"Or...because you truly do love Kim Hongjoong."

"I don't love him!", Mingi screams out. He slams a lamp off the desk and it hits the ground with a loud shatter. The glass pieces of the lamp scatter onto the rug below and the remains of it lays still. Mingi's hair covers the upper half of the right side of his face. His visible eye starts glowing bright red, and he bares his fangs in anger.

San, unaffected, puts his hand on Mingi's shoulder and brings his mouth up to Mingi's ear before whispering into the younger's ear.

"Prove it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After 4 hours of unsuccessfully looking for Jongho, Yeosang and Hongjoong went their separate ways, promising to look for him again in the morning. The Chief sent a couple of dispatch units to continue the search overnight, with the order to contact either of them if they found anything.

Yeosang heads over to Yunho's apartment, deciding to go check on him and Seonghwa. As he knocks on the door of his friend's residence, he realizes the other may be upset that Jongho is still missing. He noticed that the two have been getting pretty...close recently.

Yunho swings the door open to see Yeosang standing there.

"Yeosang", Yunho says.

"Can I come in?", Yeosang asks.

"Of course."

Yeosang enters quickly, looking behind him for good measure before Yunho closes the door.

"Did you find Jongho?", Yunho asks, in an almost panicked tone.

Yeosang quickly bites his lip and shakes his head. That doesn't seem to be the answer that Yunho wanted however as the older kicks the door behind him.

"Damn it!", Yunho yells out.

"We have a few dispatch units out and they'll let us know if they find anything. I'm sure Jongho is fine. He's tough as hell."

"I know. I'm just...worried."

"As you have every right to be. I'm worried too."

Yunho nods. "I just want to be sure that he's okay."

"We will find him, Yunho. I promise."

Yeosang gives his friend a smile. Yunho looks down at his hand and nods again. "Alright."

"Don't worry yourself sick."

"I won't."

"Good."

"Oh...Seonghwa."

Yeosang turns his head at the sound of his partner's name. "Seonghwa?"

"He's over here."

Yunho leads Yeosang over to an elevated hospital-esque bed in the corner of the living room. There, on the bed, laid Seonghwa. Yeosang smiles at his now unbloodied partner.

Seonghwa lays peacefully, his chest moving up and down as the vampire breathed in and out heavily. He was fast asleep, not having awoken since he was brought here. His wounds were all healed and the blood was all cleared from his face and body, Yeosang noticed.

The half-vampire looks over at Yunho who removes his gloves from his hands. The tech analysts grabs his glass of water from off the counter as Yeosang watches him in astonishment.

"You...saved him", Yeosang says.

"Eh, this was nothing. I've had a vampire come in here missing both his arms once. I just had to feed Seonghwa a bit and let him rest."

"That's good."

"You can stay here tonight and watch him if you'd like."

"I'd like that, yes."

Yeosang looks over Seonghwa's restful body again. After a minute, he starts feeling a bit light headed but decides to just ignore it.

He falls backward, landing on the rug. He doesn't even realize that he's fallen until he's opening his eyes to see Yunho lifting him up.

"Woah, are you okay?", Yunho asks, "What happened?"

"I...don't even know. I was just feeling light headed then I just blinked and I was on the floor."

"When was the last time you fed?"

Yeosang shakes his head as he weakly lifts himself off the ground with Yunho's help. Yunho guides him over to a chair and sits him down.

"I haven't fed since I was here last time when I had that stake in my shoulder."

Yunho eyes him up and down. "That was well over 2 weeks ago."

"Yeah. But vampires are supposed to be able to hold out for a month or so before they need to feed again, and I can usually hold out even longer."

"Maybe the case has drained you of your energy so you need to feed more often."

"Maybe…"

Yunho walks away from Yeosang and towards his kitchen. He walks over to the fridge and opens it, pulling out a blood pack. Yeosang watches as the older comes towards him with the blood before slapping it into his hand.

"Drink up", Yunho says, moving to sit on the couch.

Yeosang nods and says, "Thank you."

He looks back at the fridge as Yunho says, "No problem."

"I do have a question though."

"Hm?"

"If you have all this blood in your fridge, where do you keep your food?"

Yunho tilts his head. "My food?"

"Like your groceries and stuff?"

Yunho's eyes widen. "Oh…"

"Are you sure you're human, Yunho?"

Yunho chuckles. "Yeah, I am quite sure I'm human. I just don't really cook a lot."

Yeosang shrugs. "If you say so."

"Drink the blood before I force it, dumbass."

Yeosang smiles before opening the pack. The familiar sweet scent of the blood hits him. He brings it up to his lips and tosses his head back, letting the blood flow down into his mouth. The first drop hits his tongue as a rush flows through him like a dose of ecstacy. It happens every time he drinks but it's not something he can control.

The half-vampire's left eye glows as the blood enters his system. It's the sweetest of nectars to him but he can still feel the small pang of guilt that he feels when he feeds. He tries to push it away, but he figures it's his human side telling him that this is wrong.

Yunho looks at Yeosang's glowing red eye. Something about it intrigued the blue-haired tech analyst. He watches as Yeosang finishes up the blood in the pack before opening his mouth to ask a question.

"How are half-vampires even made? I've never seen one before you. I didn't know they even existed before I saw you", he asks.

Yeosang looks up at Yunho, confused. He quickly shakes his head and tosses the pack onto the table. "Trust me, for the last five years, I've been trying to find the answer to that question. No vampire I've encountered has ever seen anything like me, not even Seonghwa. I can't say I've given up trying to find the answer but I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm both human and vampire but also neither."

Yunho nods as Yeosang wipes his mouth. "That makes a lot of sense. I'd love to figure it out with you, I'd like to think I know everything about vampires that I can without being one."

Yeosang just nods in return. "At least there's someone out there willing to learn about our world." 

"What are some differences you've noticed?", Yunho asks.

"Differences?"

"Between you and I guess full vampires."

"Oh. Well, for one, my senses are weaker than a normal vampires. I can't hear, see, or smell as far as the average one can. But my strength and speed seem to be pretty close so that's good. I'm more resistant to sunlight but more vulnerable to stakes and holy water. Oh, and I can't turn people."

"You can't turn people?"

"I can't turn people into vampires. I can bite people all I want but my venom isn't strong enough to turn anyone. I guess that's good for me though. I won't have to live with the burden of accidentally creating more bloodsuckers."

"Wow. I didn't know that. But at least you can live guilt-free on that end. You won't be anyone's maker."

"Damn, you know the term 'maker' and everything. You're basically a vampire at this point."

"Yeah, without the sharp fangs and thirst for blood."

Yeosang chuckles. "I mean, it's not like all vampires get along. We know that better than anyone, so I guess it doesn't really make a difference."

"Eh. Still, I'd say not turning anyone is an advantage on your end. And of course not all vampires get along, all humans don't either."

"I try to get along with both, because well...I am apart of both."

"Would you overall say you like or dislike vampires, though?"

"Hm...that is a hard one. I don't like to categorize people by just their species."

"That makes sense."

"I guess I just don't know. I guess it depends on the vampire if I like them or not. What do you think, Yunho?", Yeosang asks.

Yunho stands up angrily and looks at Yeosang with what looks like...hate in his eyes.

"What do I think?! To them, we're nothing but a colony of little ants", Yunho says, with venom in his voice, "Do you expect me to wait around until they decide to crush us once and for all?"

Yeosang looks taken aback, not knowing what to say in return. It wasn't like Yunho to act like this. Yunho had just prior said he had respect for vampires and wanted to know everything about them. His friend had always been one of the few people with sympathy for vampires, and he'd be the last person to act like this.

Yunho suddenly sits back down. Yeosang just looks at him in an odd way, not knowing how to react.

"What the hell was that, Yunho?!", Yeosang says loudly.

Yunho looks up at him, expression back to his normal one. "What the hell is what?"

The older looks at him, confused. Yeosang just gives him a knowing look.

"You just proclaimed your hatred for all vampires and said that you weren't gonna wait around until they crushed you."

Yunho chuckles lightly, in a confused tone.

"I never said that", Yunho says, "I would never say that."

"What are you talking about? You just sai-", Yeosang says before being cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. He quickly discovers it's his when he feels the buzzing in his pocket.

He pulls out his phone and signals to Yunho that he's about to pick it up. He looks down at the caller ID to see that Hongjoong is the one that's calling him.

Yeosang picks up and says, "What's up?"

"There's been another murder. The dispatch team found it when they were out looking for Jongho", Hongjoong says.

Yeosang freezes. Now was not a good time for this to happen. "Another one? There hasn't been one for days!"

"It's even worse than that, Yeosang. It's not just one body this time. It's a massacre."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho opens his eyes slowly only to be met with even more darkness. The last thing he remembers is chasing after Mingi outside the Bureau only to be met with a heavy smack against his head, knocking him out cold. Now, he's awoken in complete darkness, face pressed against a cold floor. Upon feeling it with his hands, he discovers it's probably stone.

"What the hell?", he says to himself as he lifts himself to sit up. He looks around but is only met with more darkness. A small beam of light peeks out from one of the walls, and Jongho figures out that it's the door.

He runs over to it and presses his ear to it. Silence. He grows angry and impatient at his situation and decides to get whoever's attention he can.

"Let me out!", he screams, banging on the door with his fist.

As he bangs on the door, it swings open on his face, throwing him back a few feet. His back meets the cold floor with a small thud, and a small yelp of pain from the young vampire.

Jongho looks up to see who opened the door, and sees a hooded figure standing in the doorway.

"You've woken up", the figure says.

"Who the hell are you?", Jongho asks.

He spits it out with whatever energy he has left in his body. What he's met with, however, is a swift kick to the face, pulling him out of consciousness once again.


	13. Violence & Violets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa and Yeosang investigate the newest crime scene but it might hit closer to home that they may think. Jongho finally gets a chance to talk to Wooyoung.

_"You can't save him now", the vampire says, "he's already one of us."_

_Yeosang lays, barely alive, as the vampire disappears. Seonghwa quickly rushes over to Yeosang's barely conscious body. He lifts the younger into his arms._

_Seonghwa holds Yeosang's bleeding body close to his own. The younger was breathing slowly and it was only getting slower. Panic set in and Seonghwa didn't know what to do._

_"Yeosang, what the hell happened?"_

_He knew the younger couldn't answer so he was more or less talking to himself. Seonghwa was trying his hardest not to cry in front of Yeosang to not make it worse._

_"Yeosang, no...", Seonghwa says quietly, holding the barely conscious boy in his arms. The older scans Yeosang's body. A large gash in his shoulder blade stands out and Seonghwa's head starts spinning._

_His options are limited here because he has no idea what that vampire did to Yeosang. He could try turning the younger but he has a sinking feeling that the vampire did something to prevent it. The vampire did say that Yeosang was already one of them...what did he mean by that? The vampire didn't bite Yeosang._

_"Don't…", Seonghwa hears. He looks down to realize that Yeosang is the one who said it. The younger was looking up at him with tear-filled eyes._

_"I have to try!", Seonghwa says louder than he should have. Yeosang shakes his head._

_"I want to...end this way", Yeosang says. His voice was shaky._

_Seonghwa's instinct was to do it anyway but he knew he had to respect Yeosang's wishes. He decides to stand up and lift Yeosang up into his arms. His destination: a hospital._

_He lifts his finger and puts it under Yeosang's nose to try to see how much he's breathing. There's barely anything there. Seonghwa looks up at his face to see barely any movement._

_"I...love...you", Yeosang says, "I don't...care...vampire."_

_Seonghwa watches as the younger's eyes start to flutter shut. In an instant, he breaks out into a sprint towards the hospital._

_"Stay with me", Seonghwa says as Yeosang's eyes start closing. Seonghwa hangs his head and tears start falling out of his eyes._

_But he continues running anyway._

_"Stay."_

_That's the last thing Yeosang hears before his vision goes black._

Yeosang is shaking. His legs won't move. He's frozen in shock as he looks over the scene in front of him.

Only a couple of minutes ago, he, Seonghwa, and Yunho had arrived at the scene after Seonghwa had awoken. The oldest had awoken not long after Yeosang's phone call with Hongjoong. At around 7 in the morning, they decided to come to the scene.

As far as the eye can see, Yeosang can only see death. There were bodies littering the small field. The freshly-cut grass was low enough so that every single body was peeking out.

"Yeosang, are you okay?", Seonghwa asks, snapping him out of his daze.

"I...I'm fine. Just not used to seeing so many bodies at once", Yeosang responds.

Seonghwa nods before pulling out a pair of gloves. "We better get to work then."

Yeosang looks over at Yunho, who's trying to see if there's any cameras set up around the perimeter. He then turns his attention back to the field of bodies. As he looked at them, he could sense something was wrong already. Well, more wrong than a dozen bodies in an empty field.

He peeks down at a body about a foot from where he's standing. The body is covered in blood, almost from the neck down, while the face was carved out, leaving only an eye and half a cheek. It was a gruesome scene and Yeosang feels himself feeling sick from seeing so many of them before he feels something go wrong. His chest starts to hurt.

The sight of blood triggers something in him. His heart starts racing at a million miles a minute. His senses start getting stronger as he hears a car pass by on the road behind him. As if instinctively, he starts walking towards the closest body as if something is pulling him towards it. 

Suddenly, he's being pulled back by someone who grabs him by the shoulder. "What are you doing?", the person says.

Yeosang quickly whips around as he realizes what happened. He's met face to face with Yunho who makes direct eye contact with him for a split second before his eyes widen.

Yunho quickly lifts his hand up and slaps it over Yeosang's left eye. "Yeosang, what the hell?!", Yunho whisper-yells.

Yeosang takes a deep breath in and out. His heartbeat was starting to slow, and he's coming back to his senses. It quickly dawns on him that he has no idea what just happened.

"What...happened? Yunho?", Yeosang asks.

"Why are you asking me that? I should be asking you. Why are you in your vampire form out here where anyone can see? You could have been killed!"

"I'm in vampire form?"

Yeosang looks down at his hands and sees they're paler than his usual. Yunho nods knowingly.

"Oh shit", Yeosang says.

"Yeah, oh shit. Fix it."

Yeosang nods and starts to control his breathing, pacing himself as he sticks tongue on his fangs to know when they've retracted. As soon as he feels the sharpness gone, he nods. "It's gone", he says.

"Are you okay now? No more random vampire spasms?"

"I...I'm okay."

For safe measure, Yunho pulls his hand back only slightly to see that the red eye is slowly turning back to brown. The tech analyst lets out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, just be careful", he says.

"Of course", Yeosang responds.

Yeosang then heads over to look at the body, willing his vampire instincts to stay down. Seonghwa then calls out for him almost immediately after.

"Uh...Yeosang. You might wanna come see this."

Yeosang looks around to see Seonghwa kneeling over a body, signalling for Yeosang to come over to him. The older vampire lifts the shirt off of the body as Yeosang makes his way over. The younger almost freezes in his tracks as he comes close enough to see what's going on. Seonghwa points to something on the body's torso.

The body was carved in the abdomen with what looked like a letter. The hangul letter 여 (Yeo).

"여?", Seonghwa asks, "What does that mean?"

Yeosang automatically looks around at the other bodies. "See if there's any more letters on the other bodies."

Seonghwa nods before running off to lift the shirt of one of the other bodies. Yeosang goes to one opposite his partner.

"This one has 강 (Kang)!", Seonghwa calls out. Yeosang nods as they make eye contact.

As he turned back to the body in front of him, Yeosang had a sinking feeling that he knew what was happening. The two letters he found seemed oddly familiar. And as he lifts the shirt of the body to reveal 상 (Sang), he immediately connects the dots.

The heart sank to his feet and there was a massive lump in his throat. He didn't even notice Seonghwa come from behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. 

"What did you find?", Seonghwa says, kneeling down, before quickly realizing what was happening. He looks down to see the corpse's still exposed torso to see the letter before piecing the three together.

"What does this mean?", Seonghwa asks, knowing Yeosang already caught on. 

Yeosang turns his head to look at him, and Seonghwa can see what almost looks like tears at the corners of his eyes.

"It's...for me", Yeosang says.

Seonghwa couldn't even respond to that. He knew after he saw the letter but Yeosang had no idea what was going on either.

"But...why do they have your name carved into them?"

Yeosang shakes his head. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't...know."

The younger looks as if tears were about to well up in his eyes, although nothing comes out. Seonghwa watches as Yeosang stands up quickly.

"We have to go", Yeosang says, hurriedly running off back to Yunho's car. Seonghwa barely has any time to react.

"Wait!"

Along the way, Yeosang spots the blue-haired tech analyst and runs towards him. 

"Yunho, we're leaving", Yeosang says, pulling him away from a conversation he was having.

Yunho looks shocked as he's dragged away. "You can't…"

"Yeosang, stop. What's happening?", Seonghwa interjects.

"We have to leave, it's not safe here", Yeosang says.

"Where are we going?", Yunho asks.

"To your apartment, to the store, I don't know anywhere but here."

Yunho raises an eyebrow in confusion at Yeosang then at Seonghwa, who looks just as confused as he did.

"We have to go back to the Bureau after visiting a crime scene, Yeosang", Yunho says.

Yeosang shakes his head. "We can't go there right now."

"What?"

"Yunho, unlock the door."

Yeosang yanks on the door of Yunho's car as if his life depended on it. "We can't just leave", Yunho says.

Yeosang looks at the tall man, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please, Yunho."

Yunho looks back over at Seonghwa, who seems to be blanking out at the situation. Yunho throws his hands up and says, "This is insanity."

Yeosang looks down at his hands, trying to hold them together to prevent them from shaking. "Just...trust me."

Yunho sighs and unlocks the car, allowing Yeosang to quickly slip into the back seat while Seonghwa hesitates to take the front passenger seat. 

As soon as Yeosang closes the door, Yunho looks to Seonghwa and asks, "What the hell is going on?"

Seonghwa shakes his head. "I don't know. I intend to find out, though. Just take us some place we can talk in private."

Seonghwa then opens the passenger door and gets in himself. Yunho, now alone, contemplates his choices before deciding he might as well just go now that his work is technically done. He opens his driver side door and gets into the car. 

He looks over at Seonghwa, who's now on his phone and then to Yeosang in the back, who is fidgeting in his seat. Yunho wonders if everything is okay before deciding this wasn't the place to ask.

So, Yunho puts the keys in the ignition and drives off towards his apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door slams open as Jongho comes to. The light coming from the doorway hurts Jongho's eyes, causing him to squint. He tries to make out who comes through the door but his eyes won't adjust to be able to.

"Choi Jongho", the person says. Jongho deduces it as a male voice.

Footsteps approach closer to him as the light clears to reveal a face. "Wooyoung", Jongho says.

The silver-haired vampire smiles slightly as he stands over Jongho, who's currently sitting against the wall.

"How are you?", Wooyoung asks.

"Cut the crap. I've been here for...I don't even know how long I've been here, honestly."

"I don't know, like 2 days maybe."

"How do you not know? Did you not bring me here?"

Wooyoung tilts his head. "I didn't."

Jongho sighs. "Well, can I leave?"

"Can't, San's orders."

"San's...orders? Why is he ordering you around now?"

"Huh?"

Jongho moves a little to the side. "You can sit if you'd like."

Wooyoung looks confused. "What?"

"I thought you might be tired. It's not really comfortable on the stone floor but if you wanna rest your legs, go ahead. Take a seat."

"What kind of mind tricks are you trying to play on me, Choi?"

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Why would I be playing mind tricks? I'm just trying to be nice."

"Nice? Why would _you_ be nice to _me_?"

Jongho shrugs. "Just felt like it."

"You can't...do that."

"Sure I can. It's called kindness."

Wooyoung's eyes widen. "You…"

"Sit, Wooyoung."

The older looks down at his feet. "I...can't."

"Wooyoung. Please. I just want to talk."

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?"

Jongho breathes in deeply. "Do you have something better you could be doing?"

"What?"

"Look, I'll even apologize for throwing you into those boxes that one time."

"You...want to talk...to me? Why me?"

"Why not you? Do people not talk to you or something?"

"Not really. They usually talk _at_ me."

Jongho looks up at Wooyoung's face. He had never seen the older look so sad before. He smiles lightly and says, "Come on then. No ill will for past actions, just two people having a conversation."

"I still don't understand why you would wanna talk to me."

"I don't think you're as bad as you claim."

Wooyoung lets out a soft chuckle at the words. "You can think that."

Jongho smiles. "I will."

Wooyoung gives a look of slight disgust before shrugging. "Your kindness means nothing to me, I hope you know."

"Someday, I hope it will mean something to you."

Wooyoung feels the words ring in his ears. No one had shown him kindness for the sake of kindness in...years.

"I…"

"Invitation is still open."

Jongho pats the spot next to him and gives Wooyoung a smile. The older feels as though the gesture should disgust him but it just doesn't.

Wooyoung sighs as he leans his back against the wall next to the door and slides down it before sitting, facing directly opposite Jongho.

"If you wanna talk, then talk", Wooyoung says, resting his arms on his knees. He looks over at the door, pretending not to pay attention to the younger's words.

Jongho was just shocked that Wooyoung actually agreed to sit and talk with him, as he knows the older knows what kind of questions are to come.

"Why do you follow San so intently? Even you have to know his actions are...deplorable to say the least."

Wooyoung freezes at that, his head slowly turning to look at Jongho. "What?", he says.

"I was just curious. I can only assume you were turned rather than born, so you must have been a human at some point. What happened? Why do you follow a killer like San?"

Wooyoung narrows his eyes, as if the question was insane for Jongho to ask. However, the older's expression gradually softens as he opens his mouth to speak.

"He saved me. Four years ago. I was attacked by a vampire and left for dead. But San must have seen something in me because he saw me lying there, and as I called out for help, he was there. He turned me into a vampire to save my life. He was...is...my savior in a way."

Jongho nods, finding this information about the vampire interesting. He never knew that Wooyoung could be so…vulnerable.

Wooyoung clicks his tongue at his own words. "I still can't bring myself to kill a human. I either drink just enough to keep them alive or turn them. It's pathetic, really."

Jongho looks surprised at the older's confession. "See...you aren't bad after all."

Wooyoung almost chuckles at that. "I've thrown away my humanity, Jongho. I'm not good. I chose this life after all."

Jongho tenses up slightly. "You don't seem like you've given it up to me."

"Watch it."

Wooyoung gives a stern look to Jongho as if it's a sensitive topic for the older. Jongho nods.

"Back to the topic then."

Wooyoung makes a cross face. "Huh?"

"So you decided to stay with San. Even through all of this?"

Wooyoung's eyes widen. "I…"

"Wooyoung?"

"Stop. Just stop."

Jongho sighs. "We really do seem to be two sides of the same coin. Both of us were left for dead and became vampires. You could be in my place or I could be in yours if the situations differed."

Wooyoung scoffs. "As if I would work for the Bureau."

"It isn't so bad. Paid vacations!"

Jongho looks over at Wooyoung, who just stares off into space. He was hoping for a chuckle or something but he could probably deduce that the older doesn't have much of a sense of humor.

"Can I ask you something, Wooyoung?"

The older looks over at him. "Maybe."

"Why was I brought here?"

"I don't know. You just showed up and I was told to keep an eye on you."

"You...don't know?"

Wooyoung nods. "Yes, Choi Jongho, I have no idea how or why you are here."

"Isn't San the leader of your clan?"

Wooyoung nods again. "Yes."

"And you're his supposed partner?"

Wooyoung tenses up at that. "I'm not his supposed partner, I am his partner."

"Okay...sorry. But if you're his partner, why didn't he tell you why I'm here? Isn't he supposed to tell you about plans?"

Wooyoung's eyes narrow as his mouth hangs agape. "I...I have to go."

Jongho shifts his body and looks at Wooyoung in confusion.

"Where are you going, Wooyoung?"

"I don't wanna talk anymore."

Jongho tilts his head to the side. "Is it something about San? Did something happen?"

"I said I don't wanna talk anymore!"

Jongho looks taken aback by the older's sudden shift in tone. Wooyoung stands up hurriedly and heads for the door while Jongho looks on.

"Wooyoung, if San is making you do all this...I can help you."

The older doesn't stop walking and Jongho assumes he didn't even hear him. 

"Do you want this, Wooyoung? Do you want to follow San? He doesn't even treat you as a partner from what I've seen."

Wooyoung's steps slow and from what Jongho can see, it seems he's almost shaking.

"Is this what you want, Wooyoung?!"

The silver-haired vampire stops in his tracks. He quickly whips his head around to look at the young agent on the floor. "What was that?"

Jongho looks up at him, voice unwavering. "I asked...is this what you want? To be San's pet dog for the rest of your life?"

Wooyoung's eyes widen as he stomps over to Jongho. He quickly kneels down and grabs the younger by the collar. "What the hell did you just call me?"

Jongho just lifts the corners of his mouth into a slight smile. "San's pet dog, that's all you seem to be. Is that really you, Wooyoung?"

Wooyoung tightens his grip around Jongho's collar. "I'm not anyone's dog. I'm his partner."

"Is that what he tells you?"

Wooyoung's eye starts to twitch as Jongho makes eye contact with him. "Is that what he tells you, Wooyoung?!"

"Shut up!"

Wooyoung pushes the younger away from him, making him slide across the floor about 2 feet.

"You listen to his orders. But does he ever listen to you?"

Jongho pants as he grips onto his wrist out of pain, still speaking in his unwavering tone.

Wooyoung's expression breaks, and Jongho notices his hands starting to shake. "He what…"

"Does San ever listen to what you have to say? Does he ever take your ideas or your feelings into consideration? Or does he just use you like his pawn? You must have noticed stuff like that before..."

"I…"

_"Partner?", Wooyoung whispers to himself. His eyes shift from San to Mingi, seeing the connection. The two continue talking amongst themselves, unaware of the silver-haired vampire currently watching them._

Wooyoung takes a step back, and Jongho almost thinks he might fall.

_"I guess I'm just fucking nothing then", he says quietly._

Jongho looks back up. "Wooyoung…"

"I'm not a pawn."

Wooyoung turns around and walks out. He slams the door behind him. Jongho looks on at the now dark room in silence. He knew he had to save himself but maybe he can save Wooyoung too...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang walks quickly back into Yunho's apartment and Yunho closes the door once all three of them have entered through it.

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? That was an active crime scene, we couldn't just leave without going back to the Bureau", Yunho says.

"Was it the carvings?", Seonghwa asks.

Yeosang turns to face the wall while Yunho looks over at Seonghwa. "Wait, what carvings?", Yunho asks.

"There were carvings on 3 bodies in that field. They all had one of the hangul in Yeosang's name carved into the bodies. It was unsettling honestly."

Yunho looks to Yeosang for confirmation but the younger is still facing the wall. "Yeosang?"

Yeosang closes his eyes tightly, refusing to turn around. Something was wrong with his body, he could feel it. He didn't know what it was, but he knows it's causing his vampirism to go haywire. He's having to feed twice as often as usual before bloodlust hits him, and his senses go wild at the most inconvenient of times. He lets out a loud sigh as he goes to turn around.

Then it hits him again. His senses start multiplying in intensity and his heart starts to race. His eyes widen and he almost feels himself being pushed backwards. His hearing picks up everything. He could hear people breathing across the street. But the loudest noise of all...is Yunho's heartbeat.

He quickly turns around to see his two friends standing there, looking concerned. They look as though they're waiting for Yeosang to say something. 

Yunho opens his mouth to say something but all Yeosang can hear is the intense sound of his heart beating, his blood flowing. It's too much for Yeosang as his expression shifts into one of anger and he explodes.

"Shut up!", Yeosang yells out. His left eye is shifting from brown to red at this point, to which Yeosang quickly shuts his eyes to avoid anyone seeing.

"I didn't...say anything", Yunho responds, confused. Seonghwa's eyes narrow for a second, as if he knows something is up.

"Not you...your heartbeat."

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "My...heartbeat?"

"Oh my god, it's so loud, I think I'm gonna vomit."

"Yeosang, it's not that loud", Seonghwa chimes in, "Are you okay?"

Yeosang is visibly shaking at this point. He doesn't respond, only moving his hands up to his head to cover his ears.

"Dammit!", he yells out in frustration. Yunho and Seonghwa stand far away, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Yeosang…", Seonghwa says softly.

"Why is it not working? Why is it so loud?!"

"Yeosang."

Yeosang looks up at the light fixture in the room, but he quickly turns away when it burns his eyes. He recoils in pain and lets out a noise that sounds like hissing. "It's so bright in here. Turn it off!"

"Yeosang!"

"TURN IT OFF!"

Yeosang whips his head around to look towards his two friends. His eye is bright red and his fangs are visible through his slightly agaped mouth. His expression is angry and animalistic, scaring the two a bit.

"I'm so hungry", he says quietly. Yunho gulps and tries to plaster on a smile. He knew the clear signs of bloodlust but in its more extreme form, which to him was odd because he had given Yeosang blood the day before.

"Here, let me get you some blood, okay?", Yunho says. He looks at Seonghwa next to him for guidance but the older looks just as confused as he is.

"What's happening?", Seonghwa mouths to Yunho so that Yeosang can't hear. Yunho just shakes his head, trying to reassure Seonghwa. 

Yeosang lets out a loud cry as he covers his mouth with his hand. Yunho and Seonghwa jump back at the noise. Yeosang's eyes are filled with tears.

"Let me get the blood", Yunho says to Seonghwa, "that should help."

Seonghwa nods and keeps his eyes on Yeosang to make sure he doesn't do anything while Yunho goes to his fridge. Yeosang looks to be in a standing version of a fetal position, with his eyes shut, his ears covered by his hands, and the rocking back and forth. Seonghwa quickly shifts his eyes to Yunho in the kitchen, quietly approaching the fridge.

Yunho opens the door to the fridge and quickly pulls out one bag of blood, not even bothering to check the type. He quietly closed the door before looking over at Seonghwa, then at Yeosang. The youngest was quietly facing the wall with his eyes closed, as he had left him. Softly, he starts walking over to Yeosang.

"Yeosang", he calls out, "this is for you."

Yunho holds out the blood close to the younger's face, waiting for a response. As soon as his eyes open, Yeosang basically rips the blood bag out of Yunho's hands and immediately starts to devour the contents. The tech analyst backs away after dropping the blood off and returns to Seonghwa's side.

The two watch as their friend tears into the bag like an animal, not even bothering to use the tube, and instead just sinking his teeth into the bag. Seonghwa had never seen the younger act this way before. Yunho had seen his clients do this before, but never Yeosang.

They wait for Yeosang to finish before doing anything else, watching patiently. Suddenly, Yeosang freezes and looks at the bag in semi-disgust.

Yeosang drops the bag onto the floor, the remaining contents splattering the floor. The blood spills out of the bag quickly as Yunho's eyes widen. Yeosang then closes his eyes slightly and begins to look as if he's going to pass out. And as quickly as the two make the observation, he begins to fall.

Seonghwa's instincts kick in and he rushes to Yeosang's side. He catches Yeosang as he falls, letting him collapse into his open arms.

"Okay, well, now I'm going to have to clean that up", Yunho says, looking down at Yeosang then at the blood bag on the floor. Yeosang lets out a loud sigh but seems to be feeling better.

"Yeosang…", Seonghwa says.

Said male looks Seonghwa in the eyes, and says, "Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

Yeosang weakly nods. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Seonghwa looks up at Yunho, who encourages him to continue. He turns his attention back to the boy in his arms.

"Did something happen to you?"

"It's not that something did happen to me…"

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"It's more like I'm foreseeing what _will_ happen to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung walks into the main room of ATEEZ's base to see San sitting in his usual chair, reading a newspaper. In his head, Wooyoung thinks, _wow, he is really old-fashioned._

"How are you today, Wooyoung?", San says without looking up, startling the younger.

Honestly, Wooyoung was surprised that San wasn't draping himself over Mingi like he's been for the past few days, and that the tall man wasn't even here. The silver-haired vampire stays silent as he begins walking towards San slowly.

"Wooyoung?", San repeats. He finally looks up to see Wooyoung's expression of anger. He had sent the younger to go check on Jongho but he had been down there a while. He hoped there wasn't any attempt on Jongho's part to escape or to anger Wooyoung...

"Quick question, San", Wooyoung finally says.

"Hm?"

"Do I mean nothing?", Wooyoung asks. San, of course, had heard the question from the younger before but last time, he seemed more sad and distraught, rather than angry like he is now. It baffled San how it could change quickly.

"I told you last time-"

San is quickly cut off by Wooyoung clicking his tongue in anger. "I didn't ask about last time. I think I'm finally beginning to connect the dots, San."

"What are you…"

"Am I just a dog to you, San? A pawn? Is that all I'm good for? To be your little pet dog that obeys your every command?"

San's eyes widen as he shakes his head violently. "Of course not. You mean more to me than a dog, you're important. I really say this every time."

Wooyoung looks like he's a ticking time bomb of anger, ready to burst at any moment. "You say it with no heart. You don't care. You never did."

"Why would you ever think I didn't-"

"Stop fucking with my feelings!", Wooyoung shouts. His eyes pierce through San's soul and the whole room seems like it's begun shaking. Wooyoung's expression looks like one of pain and hatred, and it's one San certainly never expected to be thrown at him from the younger. San jumps back, very much taken aback, and tries to calm the younger down.

"Wooyoung…"

"No! You shut up and listen to me for once!"

San looks down to see Wooyoung's hands curled up into tight fists. He nods and allows Wooyoung to continue.

"You always use me to do your dirty work and expect me to be compliant in return!"

San shakes his head quickly. "Wooyoung, you're my partner."

Wooyoung relaxes just a little bit, bringing the volume of his voice down. "You say that, but you never show it."

"I would never use you. I've said this a million times, I might be a bit harsh sometimes, but I would never use you."

"Then explain you throwing me away once Mingi came back?"

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie to me. I saw everything. As soon as Mingi came back to the clan, you've been acting like I'm not even here, and when you do, it's to do some menial task like go to check on Jongho or something. Then you call Mingi your partner when you tell me that I'm yours? I don't see what there's not to see here."

San narrows his eyes. "So you're on a first name basis with Choi Jongho now, huh? I don't know what he told you, but it's wrong. We've known each other much longer, I've trusted you through it all and now you don't trust me?"

Wooyoung shakes his head while the grip on his fists lets up and he relaxes a bit. "I'm not saying I don't trust you, I'm saying I feel used and replaced at this point. Mingi's here so you don't need me anymore kind of ordeal."

San lifts the corners of his lips into a slight smile. "I'll always need you, Wooyoung. You're so, so important. Choi Jongho doesn't know that, he doesn't know anything about you, or us. He's lying to you. I would never use you, I don't know where he would get the absurd idea, and why you'd believe it. I do suppose I've been paying Mingi more attention, but that's because he's been gone so long, I have so much to catch up with him on."

Wooyoung looks over San's stature, unable to tell if he's being truthful or not. But he does trust him…

"I guess...you're right", Wooyoung says softly.

San smiles and walks closer to Wooyoung, who flinches back a little. "See, it was that easy. Don't believe something that strangers tell you so easily, okay? You are not a pawn."

Wooyoung doesn't speak, but nods in understanding. He still wasn't 100% sure what was happening but he had known San so long that he could trust him, right?

"That's my boy", San says. The elder pats Wooyoung on the back as he walks passed him and out of the room. Wooyoung is left to stand there, alone, contemplating his thoughts.

"I...am not a pawn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa makes his way to the Bureau headquarters, leaving Yeosang to rest at Yunho's apartment. He knew he had to file the report from the scene and get work done since he was still on the clock.

Once he arrives, he heads straight for the evidence collection to obtain something important that he's been waiting for. He had just gotten notice that there was something waiting for him there and he knew exactly what it was.

As he talks to the lady at the desk, he realizes that Yunho still hasn't gotten back to him on the information about ATEEZ. Maybe he had forgotten...

"Here you go", the lady says, handing him a thick envelope. She doesn't smile as she does so but tries to speak in a polite tone. Seonghwa nods and smiles at her as he takes the package out of her hands.

As quickly as he came in, he leaves. He walks quickly back to his desk and rips open the package to reveal a USB drive. He dumps it out onto his hand before taking a seat in his chair.

He silently thanks Minho in his head as he opens his laptop to start his search. Seonghwa hurriedly slips the USB drive into the laptop. He had noticed that in the pictures from the crime scene, there was a knife that went missing and he suspected someone tampered with the evidence. He also suspected Jongho knew too as he was the only other person who was seen with the folders multiple times besides himself and Yeosang. He had ruled out Jongho, himself, and Yeosang as suspects, but everyone else at the crime scene is free game. I'm his mind, he had a sneaking suspicion it was Mingi, as the secretary had disappeared shortly after the investigation along with Jongho.

There was no luck with finding the young agent, which worried Seonghwa greatly but he knew that Jongho could handle himself no matter where he was.

A ding from his computer drags him out of his thoughts. The USB file had finished downloading onto his computer, leaving Seonghwa free range to explore its contents.

Seonghwa quickly pulls his chair up to the computer and begins clicking around the files. He pulls up the earliest one and goes from there. He clicks around until he finds the one where the knife is gone. Once he finds it, he goes to the previous one to find his information on the culprit.

As he watches the video, he begins skipping forward to find the exact person and time, before he accidentally clicks to where the knife is already gone. He sighs.

Seonghwa then rewinded to a few seconds before the knife went missing and kept a close eye on anyone who came near it. A few people passed by but then his eyes landed on someone who made direct contact with the weapon.

The person, a male from what Seonghwa can see, picks up the weapon. Seonghwa can see that the individual is wearing gloves. He silently cursed the video for being in black and white. Luckily, the quality was good enough to still make out the faces. 

The man deposits the knife into his bag as subtly as possible, making sure no one is watching. Then the man stands up and turns around, getting ready to walk away. Seonghwa's eyes widen as he sees the face of the person and recognizes him.

"It's…"

Seonghwa's mouth hangs agape, in shock that it would be the last person he expected.

"Yunho."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, lockdown got me going crazy


	14. Down For Your Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Development. Explanations. Seonghwa breaks a door.

_ Yeosang wakes up to see all white around him. White floors, white walls, and white ceilings. His eyes start to gain focus and become less blurry within a few seconds as he looks around to realize he's in a hospital.  _

_ "What the hell?", he says to himself as he tries to sit up. As quickly as he tries, a sharp pain in his shoulder prevents him from doing anything, and makes him cry out in pain. _

_ Someone bursts through the door in reaction to his noise, and Yeosang can barely make out who it is before they speak. _

_ "Sir, are you okay? Please don't try and sit up, just relax", a female voice says. Yeosang quickly realizes it's a nurse. _

_ He decides to listen and lay back to try and ease the pain. It helps take the weight off slightly but the pain still remains. _

_ "Is the current dosage not working?", he heard the nurse say to herself under her breath. Yeosang narrows his eyes in confusion as it was so quiet that he shouldn't have been able to hear it. Instead, he brushes it off and closes his eyes again, the bright lights not doing him any favors and making his eyes hurt. _

_ Then, it all hits him at once. The memories of everything that happened in the alleyway. The attack, the knife through his shoulder, the pain, Seonghwa… _

_ Seonghwa. Where was Seonghwa? Was he okay? He knows the older respected his wishes not to be turned into a vampire, so it must have been a miracle that Yeosang survived so much blood loss. _

_ He needed to go see Seonghwa and ask him some questions. _

Yeosang's phone rings as he's laying on the couch in Yunho's apartment, trying to relax. He looks around for it on his body before finding it in his inside jacket pocket and pulling it out.

The caller ID said it was Seonghwa. Yeosang quickly picks it up and begins to speak.

"Hey, what's u-", Yeosang says before he's quickly cut off.

"Don't speak too much, and don't make it sound like you're talking to me right now, we don't have much time, just listen and answer with yes, no, or okay", Seonghwa says.

Yeosang wants to question it so badly but he's afraid to ruin whatever plan Seonghwa has, and plus he trusts him. So he, still confused, but knowing he can't ask any questions, responds with, "Okay."

"Good, now is Yunho in the room with you?"

Yeosang looks over at the blue-haired make currently standing at his counter, looking at his phone. "Yes."

"Now, look around for a black bag. The one that Yunho uses for work, it looks like a mini duffle bag."

Yeosang scans the room, looking for a bag matching the description, before spotting it on the floor next to the front door after a couple seconds.

"Yeosang, do you see it?", Seonghwa's voice says through the phone.

"Yes", Yeosang responds quickly.

"Here's what I need you to do. Are you still wearing your gloves?"

"Yes."

"I need you to get Yunho out of the room somehow, and then I need you to look into his bag for me. If you see a bloodied knife in there, say the codeword: Orange. If you don't see it, just tell Yunho he can come back."

Yeosang wanted to protest, to ask what the hell was going on, but he knew Seonghwa had his reasons for this. But why would Yunho have a bloody knife in his bag…

"Okay", Yeosang responds instead. He shifts his eyes over to Yunho.

"Hey, Yunho", he says.

"Hm?", he gets in response. The tech analyst looks up from his phone to look Yeosang in the eyes.

"Can you get me a blanket or something? I'm really chilly all of a sudden, just as many blankets as you can get please."

Yunho smiles and nods. "Sure."

"Thank you so much."

Yunho turns and walks into the hallway. Yeosang waits until he hears the older's bedroom door close before he springs into action.

"Is he gone?", Seonghwa asks.

"Yes."

"Okay, now head to the bag and look for the knife. It's a standard sized knife, and should have blood covering about half of the blade. Remember the codeword if you see it. And make sure you don't touch it without your gloves on."

Yeosang nods, before remembering no one is there to see him. "Okay", he says instead.

He stands up off the couch and walks over to the bag beside the door. He kneels down to look at it. It's a fairly standard sized bag, not unlike the ones he sees the others in his department carry. As quietly as possible, Yeosang reaches for the zipper and begins opening the bag. 

He peeks inside as the bag opens more and more. Once he seems it opened enough, he pulls it open wider to get a better look inside. So far, he only sees papers and folders. 

"Do you see anything yet?", Seonghwa asks.

"No."

Yeosang decides to stick his hand into the bag to dig around a bit. He moves a few folders before something catches his eye and he takes a deep breath in.

"What is it, Yeosang?"

Silence. Yeosang stares into the bag, hoping this is just some joke.

"Yeosang?"

"Orange."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho slams his body weight against the door for the 80th time in the last hour. He sighs to himself as he realizes even with his extreme strength, he can't break down the door. Usually something like this would be no problem but he hasn't had any blood in almost a week. He knows San and Co. are intentionally starving him to have him at low strength but they can't possibly be wanting to kill him, can they?

He closes his eyes as he stumbles back until he feels himself hit a wall. As he quietly slides down it, he contemplates his options. There's not much he can do in his condition. He also knows that his friends are probably still looking for him.

All he can do is wait, but he's starting to lose his mind. His only social interaction has been with Wooyoung.

Wooyoung…

Jongho knows he's hoping for too much when he thinks Wooyoung could turn good but it's hope, nonetheless. 

The young vampire has spent most of his time trying to figure out who the hell the two vampires are for the case. Of course the obvious answer would be San and Wooyoung, but when the younger of the two said he had never harmed a human intentionally, he sounded genuine.

Jongho sighs. All he can do is wait... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's like I can't trust anyone anymore", Seonghwa scoffs to himself as he hangs up the phone with Yeosang.

He needed to quickly head to Hongjoong's office, where he was summoned. Afterward, he was going to Yunho's apartment to try as smoothly as possible to remove him from the situation. He knew that Yeosang was able to handle himself but it may be hard to explain why he was leaving abruptly.

He stands up and his feet carry themselves through the hall back into the main office area. He continues to walk by to get to the Chief's office as quickly as possible. He walks at a brisk pace, knowing that time is of the essence. 

But something catches his eyes as he passes by Yeosang's desk. He stops abruptly to check it, while keeping an eye on the clock. It's a small white slip of paper with some scribbled writing on it.

_ Fill out your daily reports in my absence - Secretary Song _

Seonghwa raises an eyebrow. Where had Mingi run off to? The last he had seen of him was a few days ago. He racks his brain, trying to think of what it is about the note that caught his eye. Something about it seemed so familiar. He stares at the note for a few more seconds before he realizes he has to get to the Chief's office before going to Yunho's apartment to get Yeosang out of there.

He quickly pockets the note and makes his way down the hallway towards the Chief's office. He sighs as he realizes how complicated this situation is becoming.

As he approaches the door to the Chief's office, he braces himself for even more insanity to be piled onto his already full plate.

"Chief?", Seonghwa says as he peeks his head into the door.

"What is it, Seonghwa? I'm trying to get in contact with the Patrol units looking for Jongho. They're not picking up", Hongjoong says frantically, while angrily tapping at his phone.

"Uh, Chief, you called me in here…"

Hongjoong looks up, with a tired look on his face. He sighs heavily. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry."

Seonghwa hangs his head slightly. "Still no luck finding Jongho?"

Hongjoong shakes his head. "No. I'm going to need you and Yeosang on that as soon as I get in contact with the patrol units to figure out if they've found anything."

"You want us to find Jongho?"

"Of course, I need all hands on deck now that things are getting serious."

"I really want to find him as well, consider it done. But I need to ask you something first."

Hongjoong finally looks up from his phone. "What is it?"

Seonghwa breathes in deeply and then releases. "What do you really know about Yunho?"

Hongjoong raises an eyebrow. "Jeong Yunho?"

"Yes. Do you think he'd ever be...a traitor?"

"A traitor?"

"Yes. Yeosang and I have caught ourselves in a...complicated situation. I just wanted to know your opinion."

Hongjoong shoots a look of concern and slight anger at Seonghwa. "Did Yunho do something? On god, I already have two employees gone and if another one is breaking code, I'm gonna-"

"Hongjoong!"

The Chief looks up at him in shock and confusion. "What?"

Seonghwa almost chuckles. "Wow, you don't even correct me to call you Chief. You must really be stressed, huh?"

Hongjoong sighs and drops down into his chair. "Of course I am. I always feel like I'm out of the loop."

Seonghwa looks over Hongjoong's stature. The Chief looks tired and confused.

"I'll figure this all out, Hongjoong. And I'll let you know about it, okay?"

Hongjoong smiles. "I'd hope so. I am your boss after all."

Seonghwa returns said smile, as he stands up to get ready to go. He turns his back to Hongjoong and begins to make his way to the door.

"Secretary Kang is a vampire, Seonghwa", Hongjoong says abruptly.

Seonghwa turns back around quickly with a confused expression plastered on his face. "What? Mingi?"

Hongjoong nods. "Yes."

"And how do you know this?"

Hongjoong looks up at the agent and smiles. He lifts his hand up with his face and lifts only his pointer finger up to his lips. Seonghwa even swears he sees the Chief wink.

"In due time, Seonghwa. Now go find Yeosang."

Seonghwa narrows his eyes, wondering how he knows all of this. But he knows the Chief is right and that he needs to get going. He walks back towards the door, feeling confused the whole way. He quietly opens the door and steps through, taking one last look at his boss.

"Out of the loop, my ass", Seonghwa says as he closes the office door behind him.

Seonghwa walks along the row of desks near his own and goes towards the exit of the Bureau.

Something catches his eye however, on his way out. A small slip of paper was sticking out from underneath his own laptop. Seonghwa quickly pulls it out and reads it over.

It's the note that the person who saved Yeosang wrote out. It still has the same scribbled writing asking for Yunho to save his partner.

He picks up the note and looks over it, trying to figure out something.

"It looks familiar…", he says quietly to himself.

As he racks his brain while looking over the note, he realizes something. Something slowly dawns on him as he looks over the note one more time. His eyes widen slowly as he jumps out of his chair.

"Holy shit", he says, "Yeosang…"

His feet start moving themselves as he quickly runs through the office towards the exit. 

With his superhuman speed, he quickly runs through the back alleyways, avoiding the main road to make sure he isn't spotted. He prays under his breath that nothing happened to Yeosang while he was gone.

As he nears the apartment building, he slows down and pulls out into the main street. He quickly fixes his tie and walks along.

There weren't many people on the streets but you couldn't be too safe. He walks up to the front of the apartment building with a serious look on his face. 

He walks up the stairs to get to Yunho's door, as he begins to get a bit anxious. It's not the time to think about his own feelings however.

When he reaches the door, he breathes out slowly. He gives the door a few knocks and waits for an answer.

Nothing…

Seonghwa tilts his head to the side in confusion. He rings the doorbell instead, and waits. Nothing again.

He begins to feel a bit uneasy. He grabs the doorknob and pushes. It's locked.

Something's wrong. Seonghwa tries to keep his head leveled as he pulls out his phone to call Yeosang.

He presses call and it rings. As it goes to voicemail however, he begins to get even more nervous. To the point where he thinks he might panic.

He pushes on the door, more than he intended as he hears something crack. He falls inside without even thinking.

"Yeosang?!", Seonghwa calls out, plowing the door down with ease. The hinges snap as if they were thin twigs when Seonghwa slams his weight against it.

Seonghwa sighs as he closes his eyes and realizes what he just did.  _ Fuck, I'm going to have to pay for a new door, aren't I?  _

He shakes his head quickly. There's no time. Yeosang now, property damage later. He walks over to where Yeosang was laying when he left to see that he's gone, along with Yunho.

Panic sets in as he calls out their names. "Yeosang? Yunho?"

No response. He begins thinking of possible scenarios. He needed to find them...now.

Seonghwa's eyes quickly scan the room trying to find a clue as to where they went. What he finds is a slip of paper on the floor.

He bends down and picks up the slip of paper to see an address sloppily written on it. Seonghwa scans it over and recognizes it. He blinks quickly in confusion. Is this where Yunho and Yeosang went?

Seonghwa speeds out of the building, not caring who sees him. His only worry right now is Yeosang's safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let go of me, Yunho!", Yeosang says, trying to break free of the older's grip.

He was being pulled towards an undisclosed location, and Yeosang's mind goes wild with the possibilities. What's going to happen to him? Why is Yunho doing this?

_ "What are you doing?", Yunho says as Yeosang hangs up the phone. The half-vampire's eyes widen as he turns around to see his friend's crossed arms and stern expression. _

_ "Uh…" _

_ "You're going through my stuff?" _

_ Yeosang shakes his head, almost violently. "No, no, I was just...trying to find a file that you borrowed from me a while ago." _

_ Yunho narrows his eyes. "I don't like lies, Yeosang. So how about you tell me what's really happening?" _

_ Yeosang doesn't know what's happening, honestly. He was only following Seonghwa's words. But if Yunho had a bloody knife in his bag, that can't be good. _

_ "You tell me", Yeosang says. _

_ "What are you talking about?", Yunho responds, not letting up his tone. _

_ Yeosang suddenly pulls the knife out of the bag. "What is this?" _

_ Yunho's eyes widen almost instantly. "How…" _

_ "Yunho, why do you have this?!" _

_ The blue haired male is silent as he looks around the room, trying to avoid eye contact. _

_ "Answer me, Yunho! What's going on?" _

_ Yeosang's eyes shift to the knife and suddenly his chest starts hurting. He sets his sight on the blood on the knife. No, no, not now, he thinks. _

_ He knew the knife would be bloody but he had hoped that dried, old blood wouldn't set him off. It was getting ridiculous that even the sight of blood was making him shaky. _

_ He doesn't even realize what's happening to him until his tongue peeks out of his mouth to lick his lips, and he feels something sharp scratch his tongue. And as he sees his reflection in the knife's blade, he realizes he's gone into his vampire form. _

_ He involuntarily takes a step back and looks between his reflection and Yunho, trying to keep up his composure.  _

_ "Explain it!", Yeosang says loudly, hand shaking slightly as he tightens his grip on it. _

_ Yunho's arms drop and before Yeosang can even react, the blue-haired agent is grabbing his arm. As Yeosang looks up to meet his friend's eyes, he feels the knife being knocked out of his hands. He instead turns to where the knife has dropped as he hears the clank of metal as it makes impact. _

_ He's dragged by his arm as he turns back to Yunho. The front door has been opened and he's being pulled outside by Yunho's surprisingly strong grip. _

"Yunho, you don't have to do this! Please! Just stop it!", Yeosang pleads, "We can talk about this!"

He looks at Yunho, who won't even look in his direction. Yunho's face is stoic, which is quite uncharacteristic of him.

"Where are you taking me?", Yeosang asks instead, hoping for some kind of answer.

Instead he's met with silence as he continues to be pulled through the eerily empty street. 

It doesn't take long before Yeosang is pulled into a random alleyway. From prior experiences, nothing good ever happens when he's in an alleyway. So, he breathes out a sigh of relief when he's pulled through to the other side.

His breath hitches again however when he realizes the true destination is even worse. He slowly looks up to realize they're at the abandoned building where Wooyoung attacked Yunho. Why would he be brought here?

As he's being pulled inside, Yeosang says, "You don't remember you almost died here?"

Yunho continues to stay silent, only dragging Yeosang along. The half-vampire tries to pull back and resist but he's so weak...

Suddenly they stop. Yeosang was still stuck in his thoughts that he barely noticed. As he looks around, he sees it's pretty run down with pretty much all the windows boarded up and the entrances all missing doors, giving it the aura of just a shell rather than a building.

Yeosang freezes as he hears quiet footsteps approaching from behind him. He whips his head around to try and make out who it was.

"I've brought him to you", Yunho says, almost robotically. Yeosang looks up at him as he hears the first words from his friend since they left his apartment.

As the figure approaches, Yeosang is finally make out a face. A familiar one, in fact. Mingi.

His coworker was approaching him with his shaggy hair covering the upper half of his face, barely being able to see his eyes, although one peeks out slightly. And to Yeosang's shock, it was bright red.

"Mingi?! What the hell?", Yeosang says loudly.

"Surprise", Mingi says with a slight smile, showing off his sharp fangs.

Yeosang's wide eyes look at Mingi with shock then to Yunho, whose expression remains unmoving.

"What's going on?!", Yeosang asks angrily.

Mingi tilts his head. "Are you stupid? I thought you would have figured it out by now."

Yeosang narrows his eyes towards Mingi. "In case you haven't noticed, I have cases to take care of, I don't have time for your childish games."

"Oh, do you? Oops, don't really care. You're only here because I told him to bring you here."

Mingi points to Yunho, who's hand was still firmly wrapped around Yeosang's upper arm.

Yeosang sighs deeply. "Why am I here?"

Mingi just shrugs. "San asked for you, not me."

Yeosang blinks in confusion at the words. "Wait, San? You work with San?"

"You really are dense. Of course I do."

Mingi retracts his fangs quickly and his red eye slowly fades back into brown. He then quickly brushes the hair out of his eyes so he can see a bit better.

Yeosang shakes his head. "This has to be a joke. Is anyone I know actually on my side or is everyone secretly working for San?"

He looks up at Yunho, who's barely moved an inch since they came in.

"Huh, Yunho?", he says.

His blue-haired coworker doesn't move. Yeosang doesn't even think he's blinked.

"That's for you to figure out, Kang", Mingi interjects.

"I don't want to figure out shit about you people. Just leave me alone!"

Yeosang yanks, trying to pull his arm out of Yunho's grip to no avail. His condition was preventing him from having any strength at all.

"Can't do that I'm afraid. We have plans for you."

Yeosang throws his head back in frustration and huffs. "So all of this was part of your plan? What are you, the mastermind?"

Mingi chuckles. "Not exactly, San still runs the operation but I have quite a bit of power myself."

"Why the hell did you work for the Bureau then?"

Yeosang attempts to pull his arm away from Yunho's iron grip but he's still weak from whatever is happening to him with the bloodlust.

"Are you dense? I never worked for that damned Bureau, I just needed a way to get information so we could stay ahead of you."

Yeosang yanks his arm again to no avail. "Fuck you."

"Struggling are we? I was told something was wrong with you but is it that bad to where your strength is less than that of a human's?"

Yeosang scoffs. "Don't start with me. I'm going to kick your ass when I figure out everything."

Mingi almost bursts out laughing but contains himself. "That's hilarious. You're a baby compared to me. You couldn't even dream of it."

Yeosang feels like yelling but all he can let out right now is an angry sigh.

"Fuck you, Song Mingi."

He doesn't know he's gonna get out of this. If anything, he's quietly wishing for a miracle to happen so he can escape.

As if on queue, a blur appears in front of Yeosang, blowing wind slightly through his hair. The blur clears up to reveal a person. Seonghwa.

Seonghwa yanks Yeosang's arm out of Yunho's grip before anyone can react. He hurriedly pulls the younger to stand behind him, pushing Yunho away in the process.

"Ow", Yeosang says.

Seonghwa looks back at Yeosang quickly and the younger notices his partner is in his vampire form. Yeosang nods.

"Park Seonghwa", Mingi says. 

Said vampire turns to look at the former secretary. His bright red eyes angrily glare at him. "I'll rip you to shreds", Seonghwa says in return.

Yeosang grabs his arm and moves to stand beside him. "Watch out, he's a vampire."

"I figured that one out pretty quickly."

Mingi smirks. "What do you want?"

"Your head on a stick, you bastard."

"And what exactly did I do to you? It was your friend here that brought Kang to me."

Mingi points at Yunho, who just stares off into space, not engaging in anything. Seonghwa looks over at Yunho with rage.

"I have plans for both of you", Seonghwa says.

Yeosang quickly pulls him back. "Seonghwa, stop! Calm down. I'm okay."

Mingi quietly chuckles to himself which catches the two agents' attention. "Yeah, Park, calm down. You're so quick to anger. I wonder why…"

"You don't know shit about me!"

Seonghwa looks ready to rip someone's heart out. Yeosang quickly wraps an arm around his partner's torso. "Seonghwa, stop. Please."

The older of the two turns back to Yeosang with a dark expression under his blood colored eyes. "You fucking-"

He stops when he locks eyes with Yeosang's soft brown ones. It made him feel bad, if he was being honest.

Seonghwa sighs as he turns back to look at Mingi. "I hate traitors, you know that?"

"It's not betrayal if I was never on your side?"

"But why work with San?"

"Why work with the Bureau? You're vampires, no? Why hunt your own kind?"

Seonghwa narrows his eyes. "Don't turn this back on us."

Mingi smirks. "Hypocritical, are we?"

Seonghwa quietly grits his teeth in anger as Yeosang looks between the two of them.

"I'd rather not kill humans for fun, thanks", Yeosang says.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you. You don't even know what Park Seonghwa did in his prime, do you?"

Yeosang raises an eyebrow as he looks over at Seonghwa. "What is he talking about?"

"Nothing", Seonghwa responds quickly.

Mingi's smirk grows a bit. "I'll leave that for another time, it's not my story to tell, is it, Park?"

"You don't know anything", Seonghwa says, with a tone of panic and anger.

Mingi puts his hands up in joking surrender. "Sure."

Yeosang quickly reaches into the back of his belt and pulls out his handgun. He lifts it to aim at Mingi. 

"We're taking you in, Mingi", Yeosang says.

Mingi's smirk turns into a fake smile. "That's really cute, but no thanks."

As Yeosang lifts the gun up further, Seonghwa steps out in front of him to prevent anything from happening.

"Seonghwa?", Yeosang asks.

"Leave this to me", Seonghwa responds quietly, but enough for Yeosang to hear.

The older vampire walks a couple steps towards Yunho and stops. He lifts his hand up towards Yunho's face and begins slowly closing his hand slightly.

Yeosang's eyes widen as he thinks Seonghwa might be planning to kill Yunho.

"Seonghwa, stop! Don't hurt him! There has to be a reason!", he jumps out and says.

"Trust me."

It was a quiet phrase but Yeosang heard it anyway. He trusts Seonghwa after all, so he takes a step back. Mingi looks between the two.

"Kang, you're so naive. You trust people too easily."

"Shut up", Seonghwa says suddenly, not looking away from Yunho.

Seonghwa lifts his hand again and points it in the direction of Yunho's face.

"What the hell are you doing?", Mingi says.

"You guys aren't the only ones with tricks up your sleeve", Seonghwa responds.

The agent brings his hand closer to Yunho's face, taking it step by step. As he hears him, Yunho's face contorts into an expression of pain. The taller grabs at his temples, trying to lessen the pain. 

Yeosang's eyes widen. "You're hurting him, Seonghwa, stop!"

"Didn't I say to trust me?"

Yeosang's breathing gets heavier as he watches Yunho press his back to the wall. He looks as if he wants to scream but nothing comes out.

Mingi tilts his head to the side. "You know, I didn't think you'd actually hurt your friend but I guess you are what San says you are, Park."

Seonghwa's eyes visibly narrow at the statement. "I've given up anything I was in the past, so whatever San has told you is a lie. And I'm not hurting him...I'm freeing him."

Mingi looks visibly confused at his words before something clicks. "You bastard!"

Seonghwa smirks as Mingi starts moving towards him. But before anyone can do anything, Seonghwa gives a shove into the air towards Yunho, who drops his hands.

"Oh well", Mingi says.

Yunho looks up and around at his surroundings. He notices all his co-workers around him. 

"What...what happened?", he asks quietly.

Before anyone can answer, Seonghwa wraps a firm grip around his arm and pulls him over to stand with him and Yeosang.

"What...Seonghwa?", Yunho says, pulling a hand back up to his temple.

"You were being charmed and controlled, Yunho. By San and his goons. By Mingi."

"M...Mingi?"

Yeosang's eyes widen. "He...controlled?"

"I figured it out. His outbursts gave it away for me. But it took me a bit to figure out exactly what it was."

Yunho stumbles backwards and almost crashes into Yeosang. "I don't feel so good…"

Yeosang turns his head to look at Yunho just as the older's legs give out and he collapses. His vampire reflexes kick in as he jumps in to catch him. 

The blue-haired agent was out cold. Seonghwa turns around to look at him as Yeosang puts him down. The older bends down to look at Yunho.

"You've been controlling Yunho?!", Yeosang says, almost shouting.

Mingi chuckles. "Me? God no. But San has been."

Yeosang's eyes widen even further. "San…? Why?"

"We can't control vampires after all and we needed someone to help see our plans through. Someone to be...our little puppet."

Yeosang was seething with rage at this point. "Yunho isn't your toy, you fucking psychopaths."

"But he is. All humans are. How have you not realized that, Yeosang? You're wasting the effort I put in to make sure you're here today."

Yeosang's expression turns into one of confusion. "The hell are you talking about?"

Mingi just smiles. "Nothing important."

Yeosang looks down at Seonghwa and Yunho. The older looks at Mingi, trying to assess the situation and figure out what the hell he's talking about. Yunho remains motionless.

"How the hell did San control him from so far away? I thought vampires could only do that when they were in front of them and could only charm them, not control their movements…", he says to Seonghwa.

His partner looks up at him and looks as if he's going to speak but is interrupted by Mingi.

"He's one of the oldest and most powerful vampires alive today, you think he wouldn't pick stuff up by now?", Mingi says, almost scoffing.

Yeosang gives Seonghwa a look that says "Is that true?"

Seonghwa nods. "I've picked up a few skills most vampires don't have as well. In fact, I was only able to free Yunho because I was closer to him in distance. We've got to be careful."

Yeosang turns back to Mingi. "It doesn't matter now. Yunho is free. I won't let you get your dirty hands on him again."

Mingi shrugs. "I don't care that he's free now anyway, we have no use for him anymore."

Seonghwa takes his hand and lays it on Yunho's neck. He breathes a sigh of relief when he feels a pulse. "He's okay, don't worry", he says quietly to Yeosang.

The half-vampire lifts his gun and points it in the direction of Mingi's head. "How long have you guys been controlling Yunho?"

"Ever since that loser Wooyoung got us his name from the hospital he went to."

"That long?", Yeosang says under his breath, "Why do you people follow us wherever we go?"

Mingi nods. "At least he was making himself useful for once. And it's not up to me."

"Do you not get along with Wooyoung or something?", Seonghwa speaks up.

Mingi looks to the older agent kneeling on the ground. "With Wooyoung? Not in the slightest, he's a pest if anything but San insists on keeping him around so whatever."

"I really do not understand you people", Yeosang speaks up.

Mingi shrugs. "It's not important anyway, he's not a problem nor a threat to me, considering he got beat up by a newly turned like Choi Jongho."

Jongho...

Yeosang's eyes widen again as he realizes something. He presses his finger closer to the trigger. "Where the hell is Jongho?", he asks.

"What?", Mingi responds.

"You have Jongho, don't you? He disappeared at the same time as you."

"And what if I do?"

Yeosang's eye starts twitching. "You piece of shit, you better tell me where he is right now!"

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you."

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? Give Jongho back, you fucking bastard!"

Yeosang starts running towards Mingi but he feels something yank his arm back. He looks back to see Seonghwa grabbing at his arm.

"Not now, we can't", Seonghwa says, gesturing towards Yunho. Yeosang knows that Mingi won't hesitate to hurt Yunho if anything happens so they can't risk it. Yeosang instead just points his gun towards the taller.

"How can you speak to me like that, Kang?", Mingi says, "After all I've done for you."

Yeosang's grip on his gun doesn't falter. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Kang."

Yeosang narrows his eyes as he awaits what his former colleague was about to say, holding steady on the grip. Seonghwa's eyes shift to his partner then back to Mingi, as if he knew what was going on. 

Yeosang looks to Seonghwa before turning back to Mingi. "I don't…"

"I do", Seonghwa speaks up.

Yeosang turns his head back to Seonghwa, who's also caught Mingi's attention. Seonghwa reaches his hand into his inside coat pocket with his free hand and pulls out two slips of paper.

"This is the note that you wrote us when you left", Seonghwa says, holding up the note reminding the agents to write their reports. 

Mingi nods. "Indeed."

"What does that have to do with anything?", Yeosang asks.

"I'm not finished", Seonghwa says.

He then opens the other piece of paper in his hand. "And this, is the note that the person who killed that vampire hunter and saved Yeosang wrote asking for Yunho to patch him up."

Yeosang eyes shift to both notes. His eyes widen as he notices...the handwriting is exactly the same. He looks up at Mingi in shock.

"You…"

Mingi smirks as he opens his mouth to finish his statement from earlier.

"That's right, Kang. I saved you from that vampire hunter."


	15. Your Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeosang tries to find a way to fix his ongoing problem, but Seonghwa worries he's walking himself into a trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Fair warning, there is some sorta dubious consent kissing in this chapter, I know it can upset some people but it's part of the story and I tried to keep it tame. If it upsets you, I urge you not to risk your mental health for the sake of a fanfiction. Stay safe.

_Yeosang watches as the clock on the wall's hands move. Tick tock._

_He was getting tired of sitting in the hospital room. Apparently, he wasn't stable enough to leave yet and Seonghwa hadn't attempted to come see him._

_Seonghwa...where was he?_

_He's snapped out of his thoughts quickly by remembering that the nurse had just brought him food to eat. He looks down to see a sandwich and a small cup of green grapes. His stomach quietly started to grumble._

_Yeosang brings the sandwich up to his mouth and takes a small bite out of it. He hadn't eaten in a while so he was starving but this is a hospital so he wasn't expecting the best quality food. What he also wasn't expecting, however, was for the sandwich to taste like the worst thing he's ever put in his mouth._

_He quickly spits the sandwich out back onto the plate and uses his hand to try and wipe the taste off his tongue. He takes a quick swig of the water in his cup to try and get rid of it as well._

_It was putrid. He had never tasted something so vile. He actually almost felt the need to puke._

_Yeosang looks down at the discarded sandwich on his plate and picks it back up. He opens the sandwich up, revealing its contents. It was a fairly standard ham and cheese sandwich. He brings it up to his nose to see if it smells rotten. To his surprise, it doesn't. It looks and smells completely normal. So why did something he eats on the regular suddenly make him want to claw his taste buds out. Did something wrong go when they were patching him up after his injury?_

_Different scenarios and thoughts cross his mind as he looks at the grapes in a little cup next to the sandwich. He wasn't really in the mood to eat anything else after the sandwich incident but he needs to know if it was just the sandwich…_

_He sticks his hand in the cup of grapes and pulls one out. It looks fairly standard, just a green grape. He loves these things so he shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?_

_So, he says fuck it and quickly throws the grape into his mouth. He bites into it without thinking and his eyes widen to the size of planets. It tasted like what he could only describe as if someone forced him to eat dog shit._

_He spits it out onto his hand and holds his tongue out to try and air out the taste. What he did not notice was that the door opened and a nurse was standing in the doorway._

_"Oh my god, are you okay?!", she asks._

_Yeosang looks over at her, chewed up grape still in his hand. He tries to react quickly, throwing the food onto the plate and turning back to her._

_"No, ma'am, you just...startled me", Yeosang says, trying to force a smile through the vile taste still lingering in his mouth._

_The nurse still looks concerned as Yeosang lays back down. "Are you sure? That was quite the reaction."_

_Yeosang nods, wanting her to leave so he can wash the taste out of his mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine, just still a little on edge from the blood loss."_

_"Do you have any recollection of what happened? Maybe it'll help you come to terms with it?"_

_Yeosang raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. "I...I'm trying to right now."_

_The young agent turns his head away, trying to figure out his own memories._

_The nurse nods. "I'll leave you to it, press the button if you need anything."_

_Yeosang smiles weakly and says, "Thank you."_

_She turns around and closes the door quietly. And as soon as Yeosang can't see any trace of her, he quickly swipes the cup of water and basically pours the entire thing into his mouth._

_His entire body was screaming at him in disgust. What the hell was the food they gave him? They were the worst things he's ever tasted._

_He quickly shoves the food to the side and looks around for his phone. Pain shoots through his entire body as he turns to his side too quickly. He hisses in pain as he closes his eyes and tries to recover himself. Breathing in and out slowly, the pain begins to subside._

_As his eyes wander around the room, he notices his phone is on the little table next to his bed. He reaches out for it and barely grabs it before it falls off the edge of the table._

_He quickly unlocks the phone and pulls up Seonghwa's contact. His cell service is weak so a phone call won't be able to go through…_

_Opening up the messaging app, he clicks on "Seonghwa ❤️" and types out a short message._

_Where are you?, his message says._

_He lays back down and awaits Seonghwa's reply..._

"You...what?", Yeosang barely gets out. His insides started to churn, although he couldn't tell if it was from hunger or anger.

His face holds a dark, unmoving expression, not unlike the one he used to hold around the office. As he looks over Mingi, he locks eyes with his former coworker. 

"Kang? Are you hungry?", Mingi asks, ignoring Yeosang's question.

Yeosang's attention immediately falls back on the burning feeling in his stomach. But he shakes it off as he looks over at Seonghwa.

"Don't dodge my question. You are the one who saved me that night?"

Mingi chuckles. "So what? I did save you, and I'll probably end up regretting it considering you're barely living up to any potential San promised you had."

"Potential?", Yeosang responds, raising an eyebrow.

"I couldn't care less about you or your quote-on-quote potential", Mingi says, "I'm only here to make sure _my_ plans are seen through. I only saved you on San's request anyway. So I'd ask him if you are curious."

Seonghwa looks toward Mingi then at Yeosang. He notices Yeosang doesn't look too well. "Hey, are you okay?", he asks his partner quietly.

Yeosang's eyes dart back to Mingi, who looks at him, smirking.

"Yeah, Kang, are you okay? Feeling a bit parched, are we?"

Seonghwa throws out an arm in front of Yeosang. "Leave him alone, Mingi."

Mingi completely ignores Seonghwa and continues the staredown with Yeosang.

"You know, Kang", Mingi says, "There's a perfectly good source of food right there."

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at that and follows Mingi's gaze toward the ground. Towards Yunho.

His eyes widen as he gets what Mingi was suggesting. He looks down at the unconscious Yunho and suddenly the pain in his stomach gets even worse. 

"Fuck", Yeosang says to himself. Seonghwa looks between his partner and Mingi, then down at Yunho as well before everything clicks for him as well.

"Mingi, I suggest you shut the hell up. Touch Yunho again and it'll be the last thing you'll ever touch."

Mingi rolls his eyes "I wasn't speaking to you."

Seonghwa narrows his eyes but notices Yeosang from the corner of his eye. His partner was still staring down at Yunho.

"Yeosang, don't", he says.

"I'm not", Yeosang responds quickly.

Seonghwa nods in acknowledgement.

Yeosang however, only got in more pain by the second. In order to try and quell the pain, he wraps his free arm around his torso.

_What's the hesitation?_

The voice sounds like it comes out of thin air, and Yeosang looks around to see where it came from but he only sees Mingi standing there with his unmoving, cocky stance and Seonghwa, who seems to be growing more worried by the second.

As his eyes shift back to Yunho, he quickly closes his eyes. 

_Do you think any human cares about you as much as you seem to care about them? You're a monster, and yet you think you'd be spared because you're too scared to bite a human._

Yeosang began shaking, knowing the feeling from when he was in Yunho's apartment is back.

_Why do you choose to be weak, Yeosang?! You could be so much more and yet you choose to allow yourself to suffer instead of just being free._

He throws his hands up to his temples and presses, trying to drown out the voice. 

"Yeosang?", Seonghwa says.

Said male only squeezed his eyes tighter.

_Stop resisting it._

"Yeosang?!"

Seonghwa's voice was loud now as Yeosang just pressed harder into his temples, trying to silence the voice in his head.

_Stop resisting me._

Yeosang's eyes fly open and his anger boils over. His left eye glows a bright red and he looks over at Mingi.

Seonghwa quickly rushes in to restrain his partner, wrapping his left arm around his torso and his right one around the other's arms.

Yeosang yells out loudly, scaring Seonghwa. The younger whips his head around to face Seonghwa. The older is promptly shoved away violently by Yeosang's surprising strength.

Seonghwa's eyes widen as he watches Yeosang rush towards Mingi, the latter of which is unmoving.

"Yeosang, stop!", he yells.

As Yeosang approaches Mingi, he reaches up to wrap his hand around the former secretary's throat. Mingi however, much faster than he is, grabs Yeosang's wrist inches away from his neck and smirks.

"Cute", Mingi says.

He shoves Yeosang backwards, not unlike the agent did to Seonghwa. Yeosang's expression grows even more angry and he looks as if he's about to start running towards Mingi again when he suddenly just stops. His left eye starts flickering between brown and red as he starts looking down at his own hands.

"I...don't…"

Yeosang looks at Mingi, whose eyes narrow in...confusion?

Before he has a chance to ponder any longer, he feels something hard smack against the back of his head, and he quickly slumps over onto the ground, unconscious.

Behind him stands Seonghwa, holding a wooden plank he had picked up off the ground.

"That was just cruel", Mingi says as Seonghwa breathes heavily.

Seonghwa lifts his partner and throws him over his left shoulder. "This isn't over", he says.

"I never said it was", Mingi says, shrugging his shoulders.

Seonghwa walks over to pick up Yunho's body as well as he notices Mingi's feet start moving towards him.

"I suggest you stay over there unless you want it to get ugly. Yeosang might be younger than you vampire-wise and weaker because of his sickness but I assure you, I could snap you in half without a second thought."

Seonghwa turns his head to look at Mingi after he's done talking. The former secretary just chuckles.

"Trust me, I'd love a fight with Eden's prized creation but that'll have to wait."

Seonghwa's eyes widen at the mention of his maker's name. "Did you just say…"

Before he could finish however, Mingi waves his hand and then he runs out of the building with superhuman speed. Seonghwa looks over at where he left and debates following him or not but then remembers Yeosang slung over his shoulders. He looks down at Yunho as well and sighs. Quickly scooping up his tech analyst friend, he leaves through the alleyways, making sure no one sees a man carrying two bodies around in broad daylight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho climbs to the top of the stone brick wall for the tenth time that day. He had found a path of bricks poking out that he can grip onto and has been trying to sooth his boredom ever since.

"This is ridiculous", he says to himself.

He hops back down and lands quickly on his feet, not letting the slight sting bother him. He's lost track of how long he's been in there. He was hungry, tired, and he really wanted to take a shower.

As he ponders his thoughts on what he can do from here, there's a loud noise outside his door. He turns his head towards the door, and begins moving towards it.

The door to his little prison hellhole busts open suddenly, causing Jongho to jump back in shock. He fully expects it to be Wooyoung. He had come down there a couple times to talk to him so it was the only expected option. 

As he waits for the bright light to stop blinding him, the person comes closer. Jongho squints and moves out of the way of the light to make it out who it was. It's...San.

"San?", Jongho says, "What the hell?"

"Hello, Choi Jongho."

Jongho stays silent, awaiting what San has to say to him.

"Follow me, if you will", San says, smirking.

"Why the hell would I follow you?"

San shrugs. "If you'd like to stay in this dungeon any longer, be my guest."

The older vampire turns his heel and begins walking back out the door. Jongho stands there, stunned for a second before his feet begin to move themselves towards the light.

"San wait", Jongho says, his feet halting.

San turns his head back slightly. "What?"

"Can I at least take a shower first?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa sets Yeosang down on his bed and gets Yunho set up in the guest bedroom. Both of them were still unconscious and he could only think to bring them to his own apartment. He silently thanks his shady landlord for only having a two bedroom apartment open when he moved in.

He settles himself down on the couch and sighs as he lays out all of their problems out on the table.

"So Mingi probably has Jongho held hostage somewhere, we have Yeosang unstable, and Yunho can hack but he can't fight for shit, so that leaves me to fight on my own against an entire clan of vampires, save Jongho, and cure Yeosang", Seonghwa says quietly to himself, hanging his head. He brings his hands up to his face and drags them down in his face in frustration.

It's quiet for a bit, only Seonghwa and his thoughts mixed with the quiet ticking of the clock. Before long, Seonghwa closes his eyes, trying to figure out any solution that he can to their current problems.

"Seonghwa?"

The agent quickly opens his eyes and looks over to his right, down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. There stands Yeosang, looking tired with his eyes squinted and hair disheveled. "Oh, Yeosang", Seonghwa says, surprised seeing the younger awake so soon.

He stands up and goes to stand with Yeosang.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like someone hit me over the head with something", Yeosang says, rubbing his temples.

Seonghwa blinks twice and smiles. "Yeah, that didn't happen, no idea where you'd get that idea from."

Yeosang just looks at him with a look of annoyance. "I'm too fucked up to care right now."

"Maybe you should lay back down."

"Naw, I've got to get back to work. We still have an active case after all."

"Yeosang, first of all, it's like 10pm, second, your health matters too."

"You say that…"

Seonghwa puts his hand on the younger's shoulder. "I'm serious, I'm worried about you. We need to figure out what's going on with you. You keep lashing out and we need to solve this before…"

"Before I hurt someone, right?"

Yeosang throws his head back and hits it lightly against the wall.

"I wasn't gonna say that-"

"No, don't worry, you're not wrong. I really want to fix this too, because whenever I go crazy, I can still see myself doing these things, but I can't stop it. It's almost as if I'm powerless in my own body. I hate it."

Seonghwa quietly rubs circles into Yeosang's shoulder with his thumb, trying to reassure the other. "Don't worry, I'll help you. I'll be here for whenever you need me. Okay?"

Yeosang looks up at his partner and looks into his eyes. Seonghwa's expression was genuine, his eyes almost sparkling. The younger feels a warm feeling spread through his chest looking at Seonghwa in such a soft light. It was almost like when Seonghwa asked him out on a date for the first time.

"Seonghwa?"

Said male raises his eyebrows slightly, awaiting the question that will follow. The edges of his lips were curled up into a small smile that made Yeosang's heart ache. He wanted to pull Seonghwa close like he used to and never let go. 

Yeosang moves his hands away from his sides to Seonghwa's torso. He wraps his arms around his back and pulls him closer to him, resting his head on Seonghwa's shoulder. 

"Thank you", Yeosang says softly.

Seonghwa's smile grows wider. He wraps his arms over the shorter's shoulders, sealing off the hug. Yeosang tightens his arms around him, feeling comfortable.

"When this is over, we should go on a date", Seonghwa says.

Yeosang's face immediately flushes. He laughs softly, trying to cover up his flustered expression.

"Park Seonghwa, are you asking me out?"

"So what if I am?"

Yeosang thanks whatever god is out there that Seonghwa can't see his face at that moment.

"Just don't hit me over the head again and you have a deal", he says jokingly.

Seonghwa lets out a small laugh. "I do what I have to do."

Yeosang smiles as he pulls away from the hug slightly to look at Seonghwa's face. He knows his face is still a bit red but he couldn't care anymore about it. He was happy, happier than he had been in a long time.

"Hey there", Yeosang says, looking at Seonghwa's giddy expression. 

Seonghwa shakes his head. "We're ridiculous."

"So what if we are?"

Yeosang tilts his head and smiles. Seonghwa returns it, his smile getting impossibly wider. Their faces were close and Yeosang wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them. He breaks eye contact as Seonghwa brings his face a little bit closer.

"Yeosang…"

The younger looks up at him, still flustered. He knows what the older was silently asking for. Yeosang nods lightly.

Seonghwa chuckles and moves his hands away from Yeosang's back to his face. He holds the other's face in his hands, trying to be as delicate as possible. He leans in slowly.

_You don't need love._

It comes out of nowhere, a hushed voice acting as the devil on his shoulder. At first he thinks it was someone else who said it but then realized it's inside his head.

 _Stop kidding yourself. He's only pretending to love you. You don't need love._

As Seonghwa's lips brush against his, Yeosang abruptly puts his hand against Seonghwa's chest and shoves as hard as he can. The other's eyes widen in shock as he's shoved away. Yeosang looks down in shock and fear, his eyes blown as well.

"What's wrong?", Seonghwa asks as he recovers from being pushed.

Yeosang doesn't respond, refusing to even look at Seonghwa's face. He doesn't know what came over him or why the voice in his head chooses to ruin every good moment he has.

"Yeosang, it's okay", Seonghwa says assuringly. He puts both his hands on Yeosang's shoulders.

 _It's not_ , Yeosang wants to say.

A loud crash comes from down the hall, catching both of their attention.

"Ow", they hear a voice say.

"Oh my god, Yunho", Seonghwa says.

The older of the two goes to check on Yunho while Yeosang looks on. 

_Do you think you deserve someone like him? He's too good for you._

"Shut up", Yeosang says quietly to himself, going to help Yunho as well.

Seonghwa opens the door to the guest bedroom to see Yunho standing over a broken vase. He sighs as Yeosang arrives to stand next to him.

"I woke up and tried to go to the restroom but my vision was fuzzy so I knocked over this vase", Yunho says, "I'm sorry."

Seonghwa sighs. "It's fine. Are you okay?"

Yunho nods. "Yeah, a few pieces cut into my hand though."

The tech analyst hold up his hand, which had a few cuts along it. What catches Yeosang's eye however, is the droplet of blood that's currently travelling its way down Yunho's pinky finger.

His pupils dilate as his breathing picks up.

 _Just stop this,_ he tells whatever voice is in his head that he believes is causing this.

At this point, he can begin to hear Yunho's heart beating as Yeosang closes his eyes, hoping that not seeing the blood will stop this.

He's not so lucky however as Yunho's heartbeat kept getting louder by the second, to the point where it's unbearable. Yeosang's eyes snap open. His eyes wander the room as guilt starts to eat at him from inside his mind.

_You tried to feed from him. Twice. Why do you stop yourself every time? Because he's a friend?_

"No…", Yeosang says to himself. Seonghwa turns his head at the low voice to see Yeosang shaking.

"Hey, are you okay?", Seonghwa asks softly.

Yeosang looks up at him with wide eyes, his pupils dilated.

_You don't need friends, Yeosang. We don't need friends._

Yeosang's feet carry themselves as he sprints to the front door and throws it open, running out of the apartment as quickly as possible, not even giving Seonghwa a chance to react.

Yunho looks at Seonghwa in confusion. "What just happened?"

Seonghwa follows after Yeosang, running out the door and looking around to see if his partner was around. But he was gone. Yeosang was gone.

Yeosang, on the other hand, uses his superhuman speed to run as far as his feet will take him. He looks behind him to see if he's being followed before running behind a corner shop to hide.

He takes a breather, needing to stop before he overexhausts himself. He wanted so desperately to solve this. He wants to be with Seonghwa and be around his human friends without feeling the urge to drain them of all the blood in their bodies.

Yeosang wanted to cry. But he knew he couldn't.

"I know how to help you", a voice says.

Yeosang shakes his head, believing the voice to be the one inside his head. "Just stop, I've had enough."

"That's why I'm offering help, Kang Yeosang."

Yeosang furrows his eyebrows in confusion and looks up to see what's happening. As he turns his head to the left, he's met with the face of San standing there with his arms crossed.

"What the fuck", Yeosang says, jumping back slightly.

"Do you want help or not?"

"What are you talking about, San? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

San chuckles. "I have a way to fix your problem with the outbursts and spazzes you have."

Yeosang's eyes widen. "You do?"

"I do. But it seems you don't want my help so I'll just be on my way."

San turns his heel and begins to walk away before he hears Yeosang say, "Wait!"

The black and red haired vampire smirks. "Yes?"

He whips back around to see Yeosang's broken expression. "Just...please help me", Yeosang says.

San shrugs. "If you insist."

Yeosang breathes heavily as he watches San reach into his jacket pocket. He pulls out a small glass bottle and holds it out to Yeosang.

"Here", San says.

Yeosang scans over the vial, seeing it's filled with a dark red liquid.

"What is that?", he asks.

"Just something I whipped up. Drink the whole bottle and you should feel better in a few hours."

Yeosang raises an eyebrow as he walks closer to San. He reaches out to take the bottle and stops, sensing something is wrong.

"Why should I trust you?", Yeosang says, gritting his teeth.

San just smiles in return. "Have I ever lied to you, Yeosang?"

"More like, have you ever given me more than vague answers?"

"That just adds to the fun of it all, doesn't it? Continues our little cat and mouse game."

Yeosang stays silent, refusing to play along with San's attempt at "conversation".

Sensing he was getting nowhere, San sighs and drops the vial onto the ground in front of Yeosang. "It's up to you if you want to help yourself or not. With the ability to fix your problem right within reach, why wouldn't you take it?"

"Honestly, because it's from a psychopath like you."

"Ouch, psychopath", San says, feigning hurt, "That was harsh."

Yeosang rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Why the hell would you want to help me anyway, I thought your only goal was to get me into your clan, and you know that isn't happening so…"

San shrugs. "I can't have you in my clan if you're dead from your sickness. I'm not soulless."

"Yes, you are."

"Yeah, I am but this is for both of our gains, so let's just say I won't lie and say that there's nothing in it for me."

Yeosang looks down at the vial on the ground and quickly bends down to pick it up. He examines it. The substance inside is a dark red, almost blood colored if not darker.

"If you have any lingering questions, feel free to ask", San says, crossing his arms.

Yeosang looks down at the bottle of blood in his hands then back up at San.

"San…"

Yeosang's voice was shallow and weak. San just nods and responds, "Hm?"

"Were you...the one who turned me?"

San raises an eyebrow as he looks over Yeosang's expression, trying to see if he was joking or not. He wasn't.

"Me?"

San begins to quietly chuckle. Yeosang narrows his eyes. "What's so funny? Are you the one?"

The laughter dies down quickly and San locks eyes with Yeosang. "Trust me, I'd love to take credit for that but unfortunately it wasn't me. And before you ask, no, I have no idea who did."

San tilts his head a bit. "But I bet Seonghwa does."

Yeosang furrows his eyebrows at the mention of his partner's name. "Seonghwa? I doubt it, he wouldn't keep secrets from me."

"And yet he won't tell you where he was all those years, huh?"

Yeosang blinks in confusion. "He…"

San holds a hand up for him to stop talking. "I wouldn't worry about it though, I'd focus more on you."

San points to the vial in Yeosang's hands. Yeosang was still hung up on the idea of Seonghwa keeping secrets from him, however.

"He wouldn't", he says to himself.

"Drink, Yeosang, I don't have all day", San speaks up.

Yeosang quickly snaps himself out of his own thoughts. "Why are you even here then? You don't have to watch me drink."

San chuckles lightly. "It's not that serious, I just want my vial back."

"Oh."

Yeosang looks at the vial one more time. On one hand, he didn't trust San but on the other hand he was just _that_ desperate to feel better.

So, he brings the bottle up to his lips and closes his eyes. San looks on as Yeosang downs the entire vial within a matter of seconds.

"That's disgusting", Yeosang says. It's quickly followed up by a series of coughs.

San smirks. "Perfect."

Yeosang's vision starts to go blurry and he collapses forward. He is able to see, however, that San is moving towards him. Whatever that concoction was, it's certainly having its effect on the half-vampire.

San kneels down to Yeosang's fallen body and grabs ahold of his face from under his chin. He turns the other's head to look him in the eyes.

"Yeosang, I believe we're on a first name basis now aren't we? That makes us friends, and from now on, you will be my friend. Sometimes, friends have to lie to each other to get the best results. And I promise this was the last time I'll ever lie to you. See, Yeosang, that vial wasn't the cure-all I promised, although it will certainly cure you of your blood imbalance. Because, that's what it is. Your vampire blood and your human blood are fighting for dominance inside your body and it's causing issues because the vampire half is winning. But you refuse to let it win, which is how you solve the problem. The vial actually contained vampire blood, which is how you let your vampire half win. More importantly, it was _my_ vampire blood, which makes you one of us now. See you on the other side, Yeosang. I look forward to seeing your true self blossom."

As all the information clicked in Yeosang's head, he knows he's been tricked. What he meant by his true self…

Before he can even comprehend the last of his own thoughts, he falls into a deep slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung punches the wall in the alleyway outside of some random club. He can hear laughter comings from around the corner where drunk people partied on as they got into taxis.

It had been a little while since he had fed and his whole situation with San and Jongho had him on edge, no matter what he did. His head was swirling with so many thoughts, and he didn't know how to process any of them. 

As he watches people walk by the entrance to the alleyway, scouting out which one is going to be his next meal, he thinks about Jongho's words again.

_Pawn..._

"I'm not a pawn", he quietly says to himself.

He sets his sights on a brown-haired female standing alone across the street. He makes his way over to her, thinking about how hungry he is.

_"Do you want to hurt people?", Jongho asks him._

_"It's all I know how to do."_

He stops. He just freezes in his tracks. Does...does he want to hurt people?

_I can't do this._

His head is spinning. He can't process his thoughts. 

_What am I doing?_

Wooyoung's eyes widen as he looks down at his own hands. He closes his eyes and sighs.

As he moves one foot in front of the other to head back, a hand grabs his shoulder and yanks him back. Before he can even see what's happening, he's slammed backwards against the brick wall.

He closes his eyes and winces from the impact.

"Where is he?", a voice asks him.

Wooyoung slowly opens his eyes to see his assailant. It was...Seonghwa.

"Seonghwa?", Wooyoung says, sighing, "What the hell do you want?"

Seonghwa pulls him forward and slams him back against the wall. "I asked you a question, you piece of shit."

Wooyoung recoils in pain and closes his eyes as he tries to push back. But he knows he's weaker than Seonghwa and won't be able to put up much of a fight, so he just rests his head on the wall.

"Leave me alone", he says.

Seonghwa's eyes narrow as he shoves Wooyoung again. "Where the hell is Yeosang?"

Wooyoung slowly opens his eyes and looks towards the dark-haired male. Seonghwa's angry expression subsides mildly when he sees the pained look in Wooyoung's eyes.

"I don't know", Wooyoung says, so quietly that Seonghwa barely hears him, "I...don't know."

Seonghwa lets go of Wooyoung's collar and backs away slightly. "What's wrong?"

Wooyoung pulls back, almost as if he's scared. "I'm not a pawn", he says quietly.

Seonghwa scans over the younger's body. He was slumped over, looking on the verge of tears. "A pawn? I didn't say anything about-"

"Just leave me alone", Wooyoung says, interrupting the other. He briefly makes eye contact with Seonghwa before he begins walking away.

Seonghwa reaches out to pull him back but the tone of his voice makes him stop. He just watches from behind as Wooyoung's feet carry him to who knows where.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeosang slowly opens his eyes to complete darkness. He slowly turns his head to look around to see only pitch black. He sits up quickly, any semblance of pain gone, as if it was never there. 

As he ponders the reasoning for feeling fine all of a sudden, he hears a quiet whisper from behind him. He stands up slowly as he turns around to see...nothing. Complete silence.

He whips his head around to look behind him again to see a small flicker of light in the distance. He outstretches a hand toward it before the light expands, blinding him. He pulls his arm to cover his eyes, trying to block out the light.

It ends quickly and as he pulls his arm down, his vision clears up enough to be able to make things out. He's in a...fancy gold-covered room. It was almost straight out of a movie, like a fancy throne room in a castle.

A small chuckle breaks him out of his thoughts as he looks over to the source of the noise. He sees a young man sitting upon a throne. As he looks over the other male, however, something seems familiar to him.

It was...himself. Well, not exactly. This Yeosang was dressed entirely from head to toe in black royal attire. Black tunic laced with gold accents, black pants that looked to be made of leather, and black boots, topped off with a black cloak over his shoulders, lined with blood red on the inside. This Yeosang's hair color was a faded red, almost pink color. The face looked exactly like his, except staring directly at him were two bright red eyes. The entire vibe he got from him was...vampire prince.

"Who...what are you?", Yeosang asks.

The man on the throne throws his head back in laughter at the question. His laugh was...dark, to say the least. It was hollow, devoid of anything other than sadistic amusement.

"I'm you, just...darker", the other Yeosang says, sitting up on his throne.

"You're...me?"

"Does my face not resemble yours?"

Yeosang nods. "But...how?"

"I'm the other half of you. The half you keep locked away. I am the shadow to your light."

Yeosang shakes his head in confusion. "Why…"

"You need me, that's why. I'm the source of your powers after all."

Yeosang turns his head to look around. There was nothing else here except for the other Yeosang and his throne. "So you're like...the vampire half of me?"

The other Yeosang gives an evil smile. Yeosang can clearly see the man's fangs peeking out. "You are correct."

Yeosang looks down and ponders, knowing he recognized the tone of his voice from somewhere. As it dawns on him, slight panic sets in and he grows a bit angrier.

"So you are...the voice that keeps egging me on when I refuse to kill…"

"Yes, that's me. You're so hesitant, I have to make decisions for both of us."

As the initial panic subsides, he looks up to lock eyes with his dark counterpart. 

"Why am I here?"

The dark Yeosang chuckles, with a hint of mania underneath it. "Yeosang, darling, you are becoming so powerful. You drank vampire blood. You're becoming your true self now. You're becoming a vampire. You're becoming...me."

Yeosang's eyes widen. "I don't...want that. I...I'm not a vampire, I'm not...a killer."

The other Yeosang's smirk wipes off his face almost instantly. He abruptly stands up and is in Yeosang's face as if he teleported there. He tries to lock eyes with Yeosang but he avoids eye contact. "Yes, you are. You are me. I am you."

"I...I'm not…"

The other Yeosang tilts his head. "Face it, you're a monster. You are a blood-sucking creature of the night. You're just like me. Accept it, Yeosang."

Yeosang's body starts shaking as he tries to maintain control. "No. I'm good. I help people."

"You hurt them!"

The sound of the vampire half's booming voice scares Yeosang to the point where he falls off his feet and back onto the ground. He's still shaking at this point. "What are you…"

"You've hurt so many people. Those poor humans who wanted to live, but you killed them because you were hungry. And you tried to bite Yunho, who was supposed to be your friend. How could you call yourself humane after that? You're a monster!"

"No!"

Yeosang's voice is shaky and his vision is tunneling. The dark Yeosang kneels down to him and grabs him by the chin. "Embrace it, Yeosang. Embrace me. And we can rule over both worlds. We are so much more powerful than any human or vampire. We deserve to rule over them all. You need to learn to stop resisting and just...let go."

It goes quiet as Yeosang's vision becomes a bit clearer. "Let...go?"

"Let me in, Yeosang. Or rather...let me out. You have to release the animal inside every once in a while. We will rule the world, Yeosang. But first we have to get rid of those in our way."

Yeosang narrows his eyes. "Those who get in our way?"

"Of course. But all of that will be revealed in due time. For now…"

The other Yeosang's hand moves down from Yeosang's chin to his neck. Yeosang wants to question it but his voice gets stuck in his throat, so he decides to look down instead.

"You're one of us now", he hears a voice above him say. 

He snaps his head up and his eyes widen as he sees the person's face. Or rather their mask. He stares directly into the bright red eyes of the vampire who turned him in the alleyway that night. They were standing in that alleyway, yet again. Yeosang quickly takes in the surroundings, knowing this was where he was turned.

He jumps back, not knowing how to react. He never thought he would see this man or this place again. 

"Did you miss me?", he asks Yeosang, smiling wide with his fangs on display.

Yeosang freezes, getting flashbacks from that night.

_You're so pretty._

_He's already one of us._

_For blood. For brothers._

_For ATEEZ._

"ATEEZ", Yeosang says quietly to himself.

"You've heard of my clan then?"

Yeosang turns to look at the masked man. He was connected to ATEEZ?

"You...are from ATEEZ?"

The masked man nods. "Why, of course."

Yeosang's eye starts twitching. "Who exactly are you?"

"I don't believe that's important anymore. If anything, I'm you. I'm a part of you, now and forever."

Yeosang takes a step back, shaking his head. "No…"

"Yes!", the man's booming voice says, "You know it's true too, you're just so scared to accept your vampirism that you suppress the strongest parts of yourself."

"I have accepted it!", Yeosang yells out.

The man chuckles. "If you have, then you wouldn't be so hesitant. And yet here you are, scared."

Yeosang stays silent, only able to stare at this man, his dark mask matching the dark look in his eyes.

"You'll learn where you belong someday", the man says. He come closer to Yeosang, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Yeosang reacts quickly, shoving his hand off his shoulder, before realizing there's nothing there. The man was gone.

He blinks quickly, being surrounded by only bright white now. He closes his eyes again as the brightness was hurting his eyes.

"Yeosang", a quiet voice calls out. He opens his eyes to see who it is but only to see his own bedroom. He was in his house?

As the light fully clears up, he notices something else is there with him. And he quickly realizes, someone is there as well.

He first scans over what's in front of him and recognizes it as his own bed. Confusion overtakes him for a second as he keeps looking higher to see who's there. It's...Seonghwa.

"Seonghwa!", Yeosang says quickly, his eyes widening. His feet pick themselves up as he runs over to him.

"Yeosang", Seonghwa says in a monotone. Yeosang is taken aback as he stands in front of his partner.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'd like to ask you the same thing."

Yeosang lets out a mini-chuckle. "Why ask me? You won't believe what I-"

"Shouldn't you know better by now?"

Yeosang tilts his head as he's interrupted. "Seonghwa, stop playing, we have to get out of here."

As Yeosang tries to grab at Seonghwa's arm to pull him up, his partner looks up at him. Yeosang was almost relieved to see his brown eyes and not the bright red ones that sometimes took their place. "What did you see, Yeosang?"

Yeosang raises an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Did you see your reflection?"

"My reflection?"

Seonghwa nods. "Your true self, Yeosang. It's the fate of us vampires. Bound to fall to the dark side. To greed. To hunger. To hatred."

"What are you talking about, Seonghwa? You're scaring me."

The older stands up, pulling Yeosang towards him instead.

"We should just give in together, yeah?", Seonghwa says, "Drop the acts and finally show the world who we really are."

Seonghwa brings his face close to Yeosang's, much like he had earlier that day. But something seemed off.

"What acts? I want to help people and I know you do too", Yeosang says, "That's why we've worked so hard and come this far. To help people."

Seonghwa lets out a laugh that Yeosang can only describe as hollow.

"I never liked humanity", Seonghwa says, "It was all a ploy to gain your trust and get you to fall in love with me. All for this moment, Yeosang. I want you to be by my side as we rule the world together."

Yeosang's eyes widen hearing these words come from Seonghwa's mouth. "What…?"

Seonghwa's lips ghost over Yeosang's as he gets impossibly closer to his face. "Live as a vampire, Yeosang. Let your inner demon take control. It feels so good, trust me. And all I ever want is for you to feel good, baby."

Yeosang tries to respond but is instead met with Seonghwa's lips pushing roughly into his. His eyes widen even further as their lips meet. The younger tries to push him away but Seonghwa's grip on his head is tight. Seonghwa pulls at the half-vampire's hair as he moves his lips with the other's.

Yeosang feels something tug at his heartstrings from out of nowhere. Seonghwa had been at the back of his mind for so long and now the thoughts were coming to the forefront. He had missed his lover so much over the years, and now he was back with him but...not in the same way. Gone were the soft touches, weekends cuddled up on the couch, and the soft whispers of "I love you" as they fell asleep next to each other. Yeosang missed it, more than he would ever let on. All he wanted was to call Seonghwa his and hold him in his arms again. So why did this seem so wrong?

Seonghwa smirks into the kiss, and Yeosang can feel his eyes drifting shut as he leaned further into the kiss. It was so wrong, he knows this is so wrong. But this is Seonghwa, he wouldn't hurt him right?

_Live as a vampire, Yeosang._

The words that Seonghwa said before starting this rang in his ears. Seonghwa...would never say that. What's happening?

Seonghwa moves his free hand and attaches it to the small of Yeosang's back, trying to pull the younger into his lap. Yeosang pulls back on the pressure, finally pulling himself loose from Seonghwa's hold and breaking the kiss.

"Sangie? What's wrong?", Seonghwa says.

The nickname stings, as Yeosang remembers all the times Seonghwa used to call him that. The younger's eyes widen as he pulls away even more.

"I…"

Yeosang can barely form coherent thoughts, let alone speak. Seonghwa narrows his eyes at him.

"Am I not good enough for you, Yeosang? Is that it?"

The words shock Yeosang as they come out of his partner's mouth. He had never thought that before. If anything, he always thought that Seonghwa was _too_ good for him.

"What…"

"You're a high and mighty agent of the Bureau and now you think you're too good for me?"

"I didn't say that-"

"I'm the only reason you have the powers that you have! And now you're acting as if you don't need me anymore."

Yeosang shakes his head. "No, Seonghwa, I do, I want you by my side, we're partners but this…"

The younger moves his head around and looks at his surroundings. "This isn't real", he says.

"What?", Seonghwa says.

"This isn't real. You're not real. Of course not, the real Seonghwa is a good man, and you're just...a fake."

Yeosang narrows his eyes at Seonghwa, who tilts his head and smirks.

"You're such a fool, Yeosang. You know nothing about my past beyond what I've told you. I've probably done things you would consider irredeemable. I won't even tell you what I did after I left the Bureau either. Everyone has their secrets."

Yeosang's mouth hangs agape as he tries to formulate a response. He wants to deny all of it but it dawns on him that...he's right.

"Seonghwa", he says.

He looks at the bed, only to see Seonghwa gone. In fact, the room begins breaking down, bringing back only the white light.

"Yeosang!", a voice says. Yeosang looks around to see nothing but light. He suddenly feels a pain in his chest and kneels over, trying to figure out what's happening.

Footsteps approach him and he looks up to see his own face. Well the face of him that he saw earlier. The pink-haired version of him looks down at him and smirks.

"Rest well, I'll take it from here", he says. Yeosang wants to respond but his vision starts to tunnel and his mind begins to get fuzzy.

The last sight he sees before he collapses is the dark Yeosang's black leather shoes.

He keeps searching. Seonghwa knows he's close to finding Yeosang.

Seonghwa quickly turns the corner to where he smells Yeosang's scent. He's only met with San, however.

"San?", Seonghwa says.

San turns to look at him. "Oh, Park Seonghwa", he says, "This is perfect. Just in time for the show."

Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows, confused. "Show? What show? Where is Yeosang?"

San smirks. "He's right here."

The elder vampire waves his hand around the other corner. Yeosang walks out, expression completely devoid of any emotion.

"Yeosang", Seonghwa says quietly. He can see Yeosang's left eye is bright red and his entire mouth area is covered in blood. He tries not to panic, instead just seeking answers.

Yeosang looks at him and tilts his head quickly and then returns it to its original state. He scans over Seonghwa's figure from head to toe.

"What did he do to you, Yeosang?", Seonghwa asks.

To his shock however, instead of answering, Yeosang's lip corner twists up into a smirk.

"I'm free."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter for the long wait


	16. Past Revisited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Yeosang's vampire half takes over him, Seonghwa must look to his own past to find a way to free him. Mingi and Hongjoong meet again as Jongho sees an opportunity to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, here is every member's age in the story so far:  
> Yeosang - 24 (turned at 19 so eternally 19)  
> Seonghwa - 230 (turned at 24 so eternally 24)  
> Yunho - 25  
> Jongho - 19  
> Mingi - unknown so far (turned at 23 so eternally 23)  
> Hongjoong - 35  
> San - unknown so far (turned at 23 so eternally 23)  
> Wooyoung - 24 (turned at 20 so eternally 20)

_Yeosang is discharged from the hospital 3 days later. As he walks down the street at sunrise, he hangs his head, knowing that he's starving. He tried eating the soup the nurses brought him but like the sandwich and grapes, it tasted like someone served him sewage. He ends up flushing it down the toilet so as to not worry the nurses that he's not eating. He figures it's just nerves and he'll be able to eat soon. Mmm, he could taste it now. Cakes, pasta, ice cream...god he was starving._

_He pulls out his phone, seeing still no response from Seonghwa. He goes to his phone app and pulls up his partner's contact information. He hits the dial button._

_It rings for a few seconds before it turns to quiet._

_"Seonghwa?", Yeosang says._

_It's quiet on the other end. Yeosang is a bit confused but calls out for the other again._

_"Seonghwa? Baby, are you there?"_

_It's still silent on the other end before he hears what he believes to be...sobbing? Was Seonghwa crying?_

_Yeosang's eyes widen as he hears quiet sobs coming from the other end of the line. It was confusing as he had learned early on that vampires don't cry because their tear ducts don't work that way but maybe Seonghwa was old enough to learn how to?_

_He shakes his head, now was not the time to think of facts. "Seonghwa, what's wrong?"_

_"You...died", he hears faintly from the other side. Yeosang blinks in confusion as his partner said it so quietly, he shouldn't have been able to hear it, but decides to brush it off for now._

_"What do you mean I died? I feel pretty alive right now", Yeosang says, adding a little chuckle at the end._

_Yeosang hears a heavy sigh come from Seonghwa. "You've seen everything now", Seonghwa says._

_At first, Yeosang is confused before he remembers. Seonghwa is a vampire. The memory of everything that happened on that night comes back to him as he winces in pain, remembering his wound._

_"Yeah, my shoulder still feels it."_

_Yeosang looks to his left to see the bandages that were covering the entirety of his shoulder and upper arm. Seonghwa's sobbing stops as quickly as it started, leaving only his quiet voice._

_"Are you…"_

_Seonghwa goes quiet after, as Yeosang awaits the rest of his question. "Am I what?"_

_The older sighs. "Nothing. Listen, I'm at work-"_

_"Oh, I'm heading to work after I drop off my stuff so I'll see you there", Yeosang says, cutting Seonghwa off._

_Seonghwa waits a couple seconds before opening his mouth again._

_"I think it's best if you don't…"_

_Yeosang rolls his eyes as he watches as the sunlight peeks out over the horizon. He turns a corner towards where the sunlight was beginning to make its way over to him._

_"Well that's not your decision to make."_

_Seonghwa sighs yet again. "You're being way too nonchalant about all of this."_

_Yeosang shrugs before remembering that Seonghwa can't see him. He does however, stop walking so that he can focus on the conversation better. The sunlight was still coming towards him._

_"About what?", Yeosang asks._

_"You know what."_

_Seonghwa was being very vague in Yeosang's opinion and it wasn't making things easier. Although, he knew that his partner was talking about the fact that he is a vampire. As he begins to get lost in his thoughts, the sunlight reaches his left hand and spreads warmth across it._

_Spreads pain across it._

_"Ow, fuck!", Yeosang yells out loudly as the sunlight touches his hand. He flinches and pulls back into the shade of the back alley._

_"What happened?", Seonghwa asks almost immediately._

_"Nothing, just the sun burned me. I guess I'm not feeling all that well yet."_

_Yeosang chuckles, hoping Seonghwa would catch his joke._

_There was no laughter from the other end. Seonghwa goes silent. Yeosang rolls eyes again._

_"Seonghwa, chill, I'm just joking. It's probably just a reaction to the medicine they gave me. I'll be fine in a couple days."_

_"I have to go", Seonghwa says quickly and quietly._

_Yeosang opens his mouth to say something but he hears the click of being hung up on before he can even protest._

"I'm free", Yeosang says, "Finally. Do you know how long I've been locked away? Five fucking years!"

Seonghwa looks at Yeosang in horror as he watches his partner walk towards him with a sinister smile on his face.

"Seonghwa? Why the sour look?", Yeosang asks him, forcing the other to make eye contact.

The older stays frozen in place, his body not responding to his mind telling him to run. He was horrified at what was happening in front of him.

"I…", Seonghwa manages to get out. He looks away from Yeosang, shifting his eyes to the wall. The sun has started going down, making the situation look even bleaker in his eyes, and he had no idea what was even happening.

Yeosang quickly drops his smirk in the blink of an eye. "Aren't you happy for me, Seonghwa?"

The older stayed silent, only managing to close his eyes. Yeosang didn't seem to take kindly to being ignored, however.

"Seonghwa!", he yells out.

The older flinches at the sound of his name being yelled so angrily from Yeosang. He opens his eyes to look at his partner, avoiding eye contact. Tears were threatening to well up, although it was rare for him to actually be able to cry.

San chuckles softly, although Seonghwa is able to hear it. His head immediately turns to the black and red haired vampire. His expression quickly goes from broken and sad to pure anger.

"What's so funny?", he asks San.

San goes quiet, opting for a slight smirk instead. "You were once this way too, Park Seonghwa. Ravenous, violent, and most importantly...powerful."

The elder vampire moves his eyes towards Yeosang, causing Seonghwa to look at the younger as well. Yeosang looked angry, although he had no idea at what.

"I'm...not like that anymore."

Seonghwa's voice is unsteady as he says it.

San just raises an eyebrow. "I doubt that. Once a killer, always a killer. You've just repressed it. Maybe I need to bring it out of you again like I did with Yeosang here."

Seonghwa freezes. He looks at his former partner, who looks on the verge of exploding. "What did you do to him?!", he asks as he turns back to San.

"Ask him, I just helped him out a bit."

"Helped...what…?"

He turns back to his partner. He lifts his hands and puts them on the other's shoulders. "Yeosang, you have to listen. This isn't you. I know you're in there."

Seonghwa looks down before looking back up to make eye contact with Yeosang. "Yeosang…"

"So you're trying to get rid of me, huh?", Yeosang says.

Seonghwa blinks rapidly for a second. "I...What?"

"I've fought for so long for this, Seonghwa. But it seems that you are not on my side like I had hoped."

"No...I…"

Seonghwa can't seem to form a coherent sentence in that moment, growing more confused by the second. 

"If you are not on my side, then you are the enemy."

The older furrows his eyebrows and opens his mouth to answer before his airways are suddenly constricted. He's unable to speak as he looks down to see Yeosang's hand firmly wrapped around his neck.

"Yeo...sang…", Seonghwa gets out. Yeosang loosens his grip slightly to allow Seonghwa to speak.

"Stop! Yeosang, you have to stop this! You're not a monster, you have to fight this!"

In response, Yeosang lets out a dark chuckle. "This is me, Seonghwa. This is the real me. This is what I've become and I've waited far too long for you to ruin this for me!"

Yeosang digs his nails into the back of Seonghwa's neck and squeezes tighter. Seonghwa looks at his partner's face, only seeing Yeosang's physical features, seeing no sign of his true self.

"Care to rethink my offer now, Park Seonghwa?", a voice says out of nowhere. Seonghwa's head shoots up to see who called his name, only to be met with San's smirking face.

"W...What?", Seonghwa says with a stutter.

San tilts his head. "Join ATEEZ, Park Seonghwa. Trust me, we have bigger plans for you and Yeosang. This is what Eden would have wanted for you, isn't it?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen at the mention of Eden and he almost forgets what's going on at the moment before his thoughts are interrupted by Yeosang's grip tightening around his neck.

"Eden…", Seonghwa says softly, his voice constricted.

San nods. "Yes, Eden. You remember him like I do, I presume. Cold-hearted, maniacal...dead."

Seonghwa squints slightly. "How do you...know him?"

His voice was sounding more choked out by the second. San looks as if he's about to answer but Yeosang interrupts by gripping Seonghwa harder and slamming him against the wall. Seonghwa looks down at Yeosang's angry expression.

"Don't fucking ignore me", Yeosang says, tightening his grip impossibly harder.

Seonghwa tries to suppress the pained expression that starts to form on his face, not wanting to give San the satisfaction of seeing it again after he was beat in the alleyway last time.

"Don't kill him, Yeosang. We still need him."

The voice from behind Yeosang is very clear, causing him to loosen his grip on Seonghwa's neck and drop him. Seonghwa looks to see that it was San who told him not to kill him.

"Fine", Yeosang says. Seonghwa coughs at the point, the air coming back into his lungs so suddenly causing him to choke a bit as he falls to his knees.

He looks up angrily at San, narrowing his eyes at the older vampire.

"What the hell happened to you? You're like a shell of the prince of darkness I knew back in the day, Park Seonghwa", San says.

"You don't know a damn thing about me."

San takes a few steps towards him and stops as he stands where Seonghwa is kneeling. "But I do, and so does the family that you murdered in cold blood."

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "I didn't-"

"Don't bother. You can deny everything you've done but you are a ruthless man, Park Seonghwa. You just need a reminder of that."

Seonghwa grabs onto San's pant leg. "Eden's fucking dead, so what do you want with me now? Just leave me alone. I've left all of that behind."

San looks down at Seonghwa. "No, you've just gotten weaker. Mentally that is. You've allowed humans to manipulate your feelings."

"Manipulate?"

"Love."

Seonghwa looks away from San and towards the ground. "Love?"

San points down to Seonghwa. "You…"

He lifts his other hand to point at Yeosang. "Love him."

Seonghwa looks up to see San's fingers pointing at himself and Yeosang. He hangs his head, defeated.

"It's not weak to love", he says softly.

San sighs and shakes his head. "No!", he says loudly.

His voice was louder than Seonghwa had ever heard the man raise it to before. He almost flinches but keeps his composure.

"You aren't supposed to be like this! You're supposed to be one of us!", San says, pointing a finger at Seonghwa.

The agent narrows his eyes and grits his teeth before opening his mouth. "Why the hell are you so obsessed with me?", Seonghwa asks loudly, "Is it because of Eden? Well guess what! I haven't seen that bastard in almost a century then I heard he was dead so he has nothing to do with me anymore!"

San is silent as he glares at Seonghwa. He opens his mouth a few seconds later to say, "You're so difficult. You got yourself chosen for this and yet here you are, deciding to choose humanity over your own kind! Why do you choose to be weak? I thought you figured out 5 years ago that humanity isn't worth protecting but it seems you haven't!"

Seonghwa's expression moves slowly from anger to confusion. "What are you talking about…?"

San seems to only grow angrier, breaking his usual smug expression. "I thought when I sent for Yeosang to be turned, you would have given up your weakness but no, you went crawling back when you heard your precious Yeosang got turned. Pathetic."

The words slowly sink into Seonghwa's mind and his eyes gradually widen. His expression quickly grows into one of pure anger, one even more intense than before, or that he had ever mustered up. 

"What the hell did you just say?", Seonghwa says, his eyes slowly turning red.

San seems to have gotten his composure back as his expression calms and his smirk returns. "Did I stutter, Park Seonghwa?"

"You...were the one who ordered for Yeosang to be turned?", Seonghwa says through gritted teeth.

San chuckles. "Of course. Who else would it have been?"

Seonghwa's eye starts twitching as he looks over at Yeosang, who was surprisingly quiet. "You bastard!"

The elder vampire just shakes his head. "Seonghwa, Seonghwa, Seonghwa, you have to realize that everything that's happened in the last decade has been planned by me. Putting Mingi in the Bureau to gain information? That was me. Having Yeosang turned? That was me. Telling Wooyoung that you were just another recruit? It had to be done. I even watched you during your four years away from the Bureau. All of it was for me to able to recruit you for my ultimate plan."

Seonghwa is taken aback by the other not using his full name for once, to the point where it was unsettling. The rest of San's monologue takes another moment to sink in. San was always there...watching him.

"You have some fucking nerve!", Seonghwa says, unable to hold himself back any longer. He throws himself at San, wanting nothing more than to claw the other's eyes out. Seonghwa's bright red eyes held only anger and hatred in that moment as he inched closer to San.

He's quickly pulled back however by someone pulling him backwards by the back of his shirt. He barely has enough time to react as he's pulled away from San's arrogant expression.

As he stumbles backwards, he catches Yeosang's dark expression from the corner of his eye. The younger stands still as Seonghwa balances himself on his feet.

"Miss me?", Yeosang says, flashing his fangs.

Seonghwa snaps himself out of his daze by shaking his head slightly. He looks back over at San, who hasn't moved an inch.

"Killer", San mouths, not making a sound, yet Seonghwa still understands completely. The brunette stares him down angrily before turning back to Yeosang.

"Yeosang!", Seonghwa says loudly, his voice turning from angry to hurt almost instantly.

The younger blinks before looking his way, his smirk still present like it was on San's face. It disgusted Seonghwa to have to compare Yeosang to San in any way. Seonghwa throws his hands onto Yeosang's shoulders desperately for the second time that evening.

"You heard him say it yourself! He was the one that got you turned! He's the one who ruined your life! Yeosang, please! You're not some evil vampire! Your mom needs you, Yeosang! I...need you…", he says, shaking Yeosang lightly.

The younger just tilts his head. He wraps his hands around Seonghwa's wrists and throws him off of him.

Seonghwa quickly recovers however, bringing his arms back up to grab at Yeosang's shoulders.

"Yeosang, come on, please!", Seonghwa says, gripping tightly onto his partner's shoulders.

He's shoved away again, his back hitting hard against the wall this time. The pain registers quickly as he falls into the ground, barely catching himself before his torso makes impact with the ground. He lifts himself with his hands so that he's resting on one knee.

"Yeosang", he says quietly.

San leans his back off the wall he was leaning on and stands up straight. He sighs disappointedly at Seonghwa.

"Park Seonghwa, you used to be able to stand on your own without anything holding you back", San says, "but now...you've gained so many weaknesses. You've let them become your weakness."

San gestures towards Yeosang. Seonghwa breathes heavily as he shakes his head.

"You're wrong", he says, "You're wrong."

San clicks his tongue. "I know deep down you know I'm not. Come find me when you come to your senses and make up your mind about joining ATEEZ."

The elder vampire signals for Yeosang to follow him. The younger agent turns his heel to walk behind San.

"I'll be waiting for you, Park Seonghwa", San says. He looks over to Yeosang then back to Seonghwa with a smirk.

"We'll be waiting."

Seonghwa looks to Yeosang, who wears a matching smirk of his own. His left eye was still bright red and even from this distance, he can tell that they're empty, only a void filling the space that Yeosang's sparkle used to fill.

The two of them began to walk away, with Seonghwa trying to comprehend what exactly just happened.

"Yeosang!", he calls out desperately. But his cries fall upon deaf ears as the love of his life continues walking away from him as if he didn't matter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho stands quietly where he was instructed to. There was nobody in the room with him but he knew the moment he tried to make a break for it, someone would be there to kill him. His only goal in mind right now is to survive.

He looks around from where he's standing, trying to see what he could use to get out of there when needed. 

The door suddenly opens to reveal San. Jongho freezes up and faces forward, as if the leader of his military unit just walked in.

"Ooh, Choi Jongho, why are you so tense all of a sudden?", San says, strolling up to him.

Jongho glares at the older vampire, as if the answer should be obvious.

San claps his hands loudly and says, "How are you?"

The younger raises an eyebrow at the question, as if the other would care how he was. "I'm...fine. I wish the clothes you gave me to wear after my shower were less black and evil-looking though."

Jongho looks down at his attire. San had given him a black shirt and pants, along with a black overcoat. 

"You look fine", San says, waving it off.

"Says the emo."

San ignores the comment as he leans back against a chair. "You're wondering why I brought you up here, right?"

Jongho rolls his eyes. "Oh, no, I thought you did it out of the kindness of your heart", he says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

The corners of San's lips curve up into a sinister smile. "You're funny, aren't you, Choi Jongho?"

Jongho furrows his eyebrows as San lifts himself up and begins to walk towards him. As San stands in his personal space, Jongho takes a small step back. San tilts his head and just leans in close to Jongho's face. The elder vampire smirks as he starts talking in a loud whisper, bringing his hand up to Jongho's face.

"You are going", San says, sliding his hand down Jongho's cheek, "To help me."

Jongho slaps San's hand away from his face and grimaces. "Help you with what?", he asks.

San chuckles. "I want you to make sure that Park Seonghwa doesn't interfere with my plans for now. I want you to keep an eye on him."

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Why me?"

"I doubt you'd wanna take on any other job like killing or turning, so, a simple keeping tabs for you."

"Why do I feel like you aren't telling me the full thing?"

San shrugs. "I'll tell you the rest soon. But this is what you will do for now."

 _This is obviously lies. San needs me here in order for Seonghwa and Yeosang to come here. He wants them to come here for them to join the clan. So why is he letting me outside?,_ Jongho thinks to himself.

"And why the hell would I do that?", Jongho says, stepping away from San.

San laughs lightly. "Oh, Choi Jongho, you always know, don't you? Are you psychic or something?"

Jongho rolls his eyes. "Get to the point."

"You will join the ATEEZ clan and soon, so will your friends", San says.

The younger's eyes widen. "Like hell I will. You people have done nothing but harm me and my friends. Why would any of us join you?"

San smiles again, unsettling Jongho. "Honestly out of all of your friends, you're actually the one that's caused the most trouble for me."

"What does that have to do with anything I just said?", Jongho says, annoyed.

San comes a bit closer and leans down a bit. "You tried to turn one of my best subordinates, Wooyoung, against me. Do you think I'd let that go so easily?", San says, smile still apparent on his face.

Jongho just tilts his head. "So you admit to seeing him as a subordinate? I think you see why I tried to make him see what you really are."

San quickly drops the smile and clicks his tongue. "You really are a nuisance, aren't you?"

"Kinda my job", Jongho says, jokingly popping his collar. San, on the other hand, seems less amused.

"How about this instead then? I was hoping it would be much easier to convince you but you really are stubborn like your seniors."

Jongho raises an eyebrow, confused. "Huh?"

San walks over to the door and opens it. "Come in", he says to someone outside. 

Jongho isn't able to see who it is from where he's standing but he quickly learns once the person steps inside and San closes the door. The young vampire's eyes widen as he realizes who it is and walking closer to the door.

"Yeosang?!", he says loudly. He blinks twice and clears his throat before continuing.

"Why are you here?! Dude, get the hell out of here! What are you…"

Jongho quiets down towards the end as he finally sees a slight smirk manifesting on Yeosang's face. He narrows his eyes a bit at the sight.

"Are you...okay, Yeosang?", he asks softly, sensing that something is wrong.

"Never better", the older says to him. Jongho wants to question it further but he doesn't know if San would be willing to hurt him or Yeosang in the process if he said something wrong. San never said he wanted him in one piece for his plan, after all.

Jongho looks towards San, who is now wearing a matching smirk. "Here is the deal, Choi Jongho", San says, "You do as I ask and join the clan and I'll ensure your friends won't get hurt."

The younger looks towards Yeosang and then back to San. "Are you controlling him?"

San shakes his head. "I'm doing nothing of the sort. He's here on his own free will."

Jongho internally begins to panic. "Then why do you need me? Send someone else to do your dirty work."

"But I want you to do it."

Jongho sighs. "Leave me the hell out of your schemes."

"Do you not care for the safety of your friends?", San asks, sternly.

"Of course I do", Jongho responds.

"Then join us."

Jongho remains quiet, weighing his options. Never in his right mind would he ever think about joining these psychopaths but this could mean ATEEZ would leave his friends alone. And if he had to give up his freedom to do so...so be it.

"You are in love with Jeong Yunho, yes?", San asks with a sadistic smile, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yunho?", Jongho says instinctively. He quickly coughs, trying to pass it off but he knows San didn't buy it.

"Yes."

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Why is that any of _your_ concern?"

"It would be a shame if something bad were to happen to him, hm?"

The younger's eyes widen slightly. "Keep your hands off of him or so help me, you won't make it out alive."

This causes San to start laughing, but Jongho knew he wouldn't actually be afraid. "So that's a yes."

Jongho grew a bit angrier. His mind was flooded with the idea of Yunho being hurt. He couldn't let that happen.

"So what do you say? You can keep Jeong Yunho safe, along with your other friends. And I'll forgive you for your past actions against the clan. Join us and I can guarantee all of that. The decision is all yours."

San smirks as he watches Jongho's expression turn into one of slight panic.

"Not really a choice, now is it?", Jongho says through gritted teeth.

"Smart boy."

Jongho closes his eyes, thinking hard. He couldn't risk Yunho's life. He was just a human, but more importantly he was the man he loved. And Seonghwa? He deserved better than this. Yeosang? Oh my god, he needed to figure out how to free Yeosang. Maybe he could use this opportunity to do so.

"Fine. I'll join your stupid clan." Jongho grits his teeth even harder as he says the words.

San's smile grows wider as he hears the confirmation. "Didn't think you'd actually had it in you. I promise you will do great things, Choi Jongho. Welcome to ATEEZ."

Jongho didn't smile back, just standing there, looking angry and panicked instead. "What do I have to do?", Jongho asks, exasperated.

"Meet Mingi out front and he'll lead you from there."

Jongho's eyes widen. "Mingi?! He's part of this clan too?"

San nods. "I mean you figured out he was a vampire. Someone had to have locked you down there. That was Mingi."

Jongho clicks his tongue in frustration. "Of fucking course."

"You will have to prove yourself first so Mingi will show you the way."

"Prove myself my ass", Jongho says, signalling for Yeosang to move out of the way. _Oh Yeosang...I will save you soon._

"In time, you will learn where you belong, Jongho, and that's here. You will learn to love it."

"What? No Choi? And I'm not loving it, so I doubt that part."

San holds his hand out to Jongho. "We're friends now, I can drop the formalities. And you can drop the attitude."

Jongho scoffs and pushes past the two vampires. He grabs the door handle and opens it, about to head to Mingi.

"I've joined your clan, but I am not your friend. Remember that."

San clicks his tongue as Jongho walks out the door, not so ready to start the first day of his new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So why exactly are we bleaching your hair?", Yunho says, pulling gloves onto his hands and eyeing the hair bleach currently on the table.

Seonghwa sits down in the chair, facing Yunho. "It's gotta jog some memories for Yeosang, and hopefully it'll make it easier to snap him out of his vampiric rampage or whatever you wanna call it."

Yunho nods. "I guess it makes sense. You guys met when you were blonde and were together then too."

"Exactly, now blonde me up."

The tech analyst shrugs and opens the box of hair bleach. Seonghwa throws a towel over his shoulders and pushes the hair out of his face.

Yunho picks the dye brush up and Seonghwa closes his eyes as the taller begins mixing the powders and liquids.

"You never told me what I did, by the way", Yunho says. Seonghwa raises an eyebrow with his eyes still closed.

"What do you mean?"

"Like when I was under the control of San and Mingi, who I still cannot believe is a scumbag member of that clan by the way, I can't believe I ever had a crush on him", Yunho says, lightly scoffing.

Seonghwa chuckles softly. "Happens to the best of us. You brought Yeosang to Mingi and I had to come find you guys and rescue the both of you later. Oh, and you also stole a knife from one of the murder scenes."

Yunho sighs. "I'm...so sorry for that by the way. I won't...wait I took a knife from the crime scenes?"

Seonghwa nods. "Yep."

"Where is the knife now?"

The vampire shrugs. "Probably your apartment because that's where it was last."

Yunho smiles slightly. "That's gonna help a bit I think."

"What do you mean?"

"See unlike you and Yeosang, I actually do my job. I've been researching the case nonstop. I had DNA samples from the dead bodies sent to the lab today actually, and I should get the results tomorrow. Hopefully, they can lead us to the culprits. The only thing that worries me is that it's been a while since the last murder which means they've either stopped...or they're planning something big."

Seonghwa opens his eyes and stares at the older. "Wow...we really have been neglecting our duties huh. You're amazing, Yunho."

Yunho fake flips his hair. "Oh, I know it."

"I'm glad you're working on the case though. Chief's put me on another assignment now too."

Yunho begins applying the bleach to Seonghwa's hair. "What is it?"

"I'm supposed to find Jongho."

The tech analyst freezes. "Jongho?"

Seonghwa nods. "Don't worry, Yunho, I'm going to find him okay?"

Yunho closes his eyes and breathes out before opening his eyes again. "I know he can handle himself. I just can't help but worry a bit."

"I know. I mean both of our love partners are currently in the hands of ATEEZ. We'll get them back, okay?"

Yunho nods. "I trust you, Seonghwa."

Seonghwa smiles in return. "Thank you."

"I'm still so pissed they were able to control me like that, maybe if I was stronger…", Yunho says.

Seonghwa shakes his head. "No human can resist vampire charm, Yunho. You are strong, don't let it get you down. No hard feelings from anyone towards you."

"I know. But now I'm motivated to kick their asses too. They messed with the wrong hacker."

Seonghwa nods, impressed. The bleach begins to sting Seonghwa's scalp a bit as it covers most of his hair but he's felt way worse pain. "I should try a new hair color too soon", Yunho says.

"Try pink", Seonghwa suggests.

Yunho thinks on it for a second. "Maybe a peach?"

"Love it."

The two of them laugh together as the atmosphere lightens up a bit. Seonghwa knows he and Yunho haven't talked that much or spent that much time together but he knows that before he came back into Yeosang's life, Yunho was the younger vampire's only friend. So, he's compelled to like him either way but his upbeat attitude works well against the grim ones of himself and Yeosang's. And it matches well with Jongho's.

Feeling no more pressure on his head, he turns his head to Yunho. Seonghwa looks up at him as he removes the gloves. 

"Done?", Seonghwa asks.

Yunho nods. "All done. Now we wait half an hour to wash it out."

"I wish I could see", Seonghwa says, chuckling a bit.

"Eh, mirrors are overrated anyway", Yunho responds, shrugging.

Seonghwa nods and leans back in the chair, ready to wait out the 30 minutes. Yunho, on the other hand, walks over to his jacket hanging on a chair and pulls out a shiny object.

"Here."

Seonghwa says, "what", as he slowly looks up.

"I finally got the information on ATEEZ that you asked for, Seonghwa", Yunho says, catching the other's attention, "I know it took a while."

Seonghwa looks up to see Yunho standing there with a USB drive outstretched towards him. He quietly takes the drive out of the tech analyst's hands and says, "For real?"

Yunho nods. "It's barely anything because I'd guarantee you that a vampire cult would not put their information in any online database."

"What did you find?", Seonghwa says, standing up. He grabs his laptop off the couch and sets himself up at the dining table.

"An old article about them, from a newspaper dated July 19, 1814."

Seonghwa plugs the USB drive in. He clicks the folder that pops up. Within, there is a newspaper article that looks ancient, indeed dated July 19, 1814. "1814?"

"Yes. That's the only piece of information I could find on them, but the article states that there was a group of vampires that were killing around town. One was taken into custody and questioned. When they asked him to write down who he worked for all he wrote down was 'ATEEZ' over and over."

Seonghwa's eyes widen as he reads over the article.

_Seonghwa's blood boils as he comes face to face with his maker. The man his family's rivals hired to turn him into a cold-blooded monster._

_"How did it feel slaughtering that entire family in cold blood, my prized creation?", the dark haired man says behind the mask that covers his nose and mouth._

_Seonghwa stays silent but his eyes widen slightly. He purses his lips and refuses to say anything._

_"I can feel you, young one, I can feel how much you enjoyed it. Admit it. You enjoyed watching them suffer. You enjoyed seeing them bleed out in front of your eyes."_

_"I'm not a killer", Seonghwa says, finally speaking up._

_"And yet you killed them all without hesitation."_

_Seonghwa looks down at the ground as he feels his emotions about to burst. "I'll never be like you."_

_"It's already too late for you. You've already had a taste of blood and death. Soon, you will realize that you can never escape from it. It's part of you. It's who you are. You're a killer."_

_"No!"_

_Eden walks towards him. "I can feel your anger towards me, Seonghwa. You can kill me, because then I'll know for sure that you are exactly what I thought you were. And if you do not kill me here, you will kill one of the future leaders of my clan, and take their place. Or rather, your rightful place, as leader of the ATEEZ clan."_

Seonghwa blinks and brings himself back into the real world. Yunho stands in front of him, shaking him. "Seonghwa!", the younger yells out.

Seonghwa sighs loudly. "I'm...fine."

"Is something wrong?"

"I just...remembered something from my past."

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "Your past?"

Seonghwa nods. "ATEEZ...it seems I have more connections to them than I thought."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't think it's a coincidence, after all."

"What isn't?"

"San. Wooyoung. The fact that they're here now. The fact that they came after me first. The fact that they know Yeosang."

"I'm lost." Yunho looks over at the other with a confused expression.

Seonghwa sighs and looks around. "You can't tell anybody any of this, Yunho. No one. Not even Yeosang."

Yunho nods. "I promise."

"ATEEZ were the ones that turned Yeosang. I was there, unable to stop it. Everything about it seemed so similar to...my own turning. Except I became a full vampire, of course."

"Hm? And what does that have to do with you?"

Seonghwa sighs, having to dig deeper into his memory than he wanted to. "Well, ATEEZ turned me too. 206 years ago that is. A vampire named Eden turned me after he was hired by my family's business rivals. They were jealous that their business was being taken away by my father's, so they came to the logical conclusion that the best revenge would be to have me and my brother turned into vampires. My brother was luckily out of town during the time so I was the only one that was taken. Eden kidnapped me while I was walking one day."

_"I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to turn you then starve you to the point where you become a monster. Then I'm going to send you back to your family and watch happily as you tear them apart limb from limb." Eden's tone was even and sadistic. Seonghwa barely knew how he got here. This man, who he was told to call Eden, told him that he was hired by the Chois, his family's business rivals to turn him into a vampire and send him to kill his own family when his hunger hit its peak._

_Seonghwa could tell that even though he was being paid to do it, Eden was taking some sadistic pleasure in the job. He wanted to run away and never look back but he was trapped here. This man was a powerful vampire and he was just a human._

_"Why is this happening to me?", Seonghwa asks softly._

_"You should be thankful. You're about to be given eternal life. Park Seonghwa, you were chosen."_

_Eden's smile widens, unsettling Seonghwa. "Please just leave me alone", Seonghwa says._

_"Maybe this will help you see things my way", Eden responds._

_Sharp fangs pierced into Seonghwa's neck and he screams loudly. Eden quickly covers the younger's mouth to muffle his cries._

_Tears form at the corner of Seonghwa's eyes, and he finds himself unable to move. The only thing he feels right now is fear, mixed with a bit of pain. Slowly, he feels his senses being numbed as Eden sinks his fangs deeper._

_The vampire pulls his fangs out of Seonghwa's neck, and leans back to admire his handiwork. The young male looked out of it, with his eyes cloudy. His neck was covered in blood, especially around the bite marks. Eden smirks, satisfied._

_"Now, that's more like it", he says, reaching over onto the side table and grabbing a knife. Seonghwa didn't move, everything feeling numb. He felt somehow...peaceful in a way. Eden takes the knife and cuts along his palm._

_"I've only known you for an hour and yet I've already grown fond of you. I can tell you're going to go far. You will be a very powerful vampire, I can feel it. I think I'll keep you around."_

_Blood drips from the cut on Eden's palm as he brings it up to Seonghwa's face. He presses his hand against Seonghwa's mouth, letting the blood fall through the younger's lips._

_Eden smiles, showing the blood still on his teeth, as Seonghwa drank from his palm. The younger still looked dazed, just swallowing the thick substance subconsciously._

_"Now you're one of us. It shouldn't take long for you to feel the heavy effects of hunger. Then it's time for you to show me and the world what you've got."_

_Those were the last words Seonghwa heard before being locked up for weeks._

"He threw me into a stone wall dungeon for about 2 weeks. Newly turned vampires need to feed almost every day so imagine me not having much for 2 weeks. He fed me just enough to keep me from collapsing. Eden took me outside after so long and by that point, I was basically on the verge of snapping, and I was basically a mindless beast just looking for blood. He let me out onto the streets and I did question why he didn't just take me to my family's house. I did figure out later it was because he didn't give two fucks about his deal with the rivals." Seonghwa shudders at the thought of what happened after this part.

"What happened once you got let loose?", Yunho asks, laying Seonghwa's head back into the water bath.

Seonghwa freezes up. He wasn't ready to talk about that with anyone. He couldn't tell his closest friends that at one point, he had slaughtered a family of up to 20 people just because he was pissed off.

"That's not important. What's important is that connection between me, Yeosang, and the leader of ATEEZ."

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "The leader of ATEEZ?"

Seonghwa nods. "In the vampire world, the head of a clan is the one who is able to kill the current head."

The tech analyst is taken aback. "Kill the current head?"

"Yes. Why didn't I realize this before?"

"Realize what?", Yunho asks, growing worried.

"ATEEZ must be looking for their true leader. San's been acting as leader probably but he's probably also been looking for the head of the clan. He probably wants them dead so he can take their place but still...it all makes sense now."

Yunho nods in understanding. "So we need to find the head of their clan, yes?"

Seonghwa tilts his head slightly then returns it to its previous position. "Not exactly. Well...see...the last head is kind of...dead."

"Wait, how do you know the previous leader is dead?", Yunho asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yunho...I killed him", Seonghwa admits.

The tech analyst's eyes widen and his mouth hangs agape. "You...killed him?"

Seonghwa nods. "Yeah, I did. He was the one who turned Yeosang. I couldn't stand that fucker. So after I left the Bureau, I went after the bastard and ripped his heart out of his chest."

Yunho blinks rapidly, shocked. "Jeez...I knew you had been around the block on the whole killing thing but ripping his heart out?"

"Would you not kill the guy that turned Jongho?", Seonghwa asks.

"Point taken. But wait...if you killed the last head of their clan then…"

Seonghwa sighs and nods. "Yunho, it's me, I'm supposed to be the head of the ATEEZ clan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung's hands start shaking. He hasn't fed in a while, refusing any blood that was offered to him. He doesn't know why he's hesitating now, after all these years.

Something about the way that Jongho showed him kindness for seemingly no reason confused him. And the way he said that how San treated him was wrong angered him...but was he right?

He lets out a sigh, as he sits down on the couch in his friend Chan's house. Chan was the only friend he had outside of the clan. He worked as a bartender at a club that San frequents so he went there once and became quick friends with the blonde.

"Are you sure you're not hungry? I have plenty of blood in the compressor", Chan asks him.

Wooyoung shakes his head. "Not now."

Chan shrugs. "Suit yourself."

"So anyways, back to the story", Wooyoung says, "I've had to deal with this guy named Yeosang-"

Chan stops him abruptly. "Yeosang? Like Kang Yeosang?"

Wooyoung pauses. "Wait, you know him?"

Chan nods. "He comes to the club sometimes."

Wooyoung raises an eyebrow. "He's been to the club before too?"

"He's a regular. One of my favorites."

"I never knew that."

Chan shrugs. "I don't think he knows I'm a vampire though. He's never said anything anyway."

Wooyoung chuckles. "I wonder why he wouldn't know. You reek of vampire to me."

The blonde jokingly punches him in the arm. "How dare you?", he says.

Wooyoung quiets down and sighs. "I don't know what to do, man. I really don't."

"This is why I hate clans, they're all so controlling. It's like a cult with all the traditions and rituals. I'm a free flowing guy, gotta have my freedom."

"Freedom, huh…", Wooyoung says softly.

Chan looks him over. "What are you thinking about now?"

Wooyoung lets out a soft chuckle. "I spent so long trying to convince Yeosang that he's desperately trying to hold onto his humanity but I think it was me that was desperate to get rid of mine."

He closes his eyes and smiles to himself. "I never learn. And I don't think I ever will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hongjoong sits on his couch, leaning back while thinking about what to do from here. He was two vampire agents down, but he still had his strongest one in Seonghwa. Yunho was also working his hardest on the case while the vampires were out of commission...but is it enough?

The Chief is knocked out of his thoughts by a sound coming from his kitchen. He raises an eyebrow as he lives alone. He grabs the empty beer bottle he was drinking from for protection and heads towards the other room. He will admit, he was a bit scared but it was probably nothing.

There was another noise as he approaches, only succeeding in making him more worried. This is the part of horror movies where the dumb one walks into the bad situation on his own and dies. Hongjoong takes a deep breath in and peeks into the kitchen from the corner of the doorway.

He sees a figure standing there, first seeing his feet. As he travels his way up the person's body, he panics. Why was there someone in his house?

His eyes finally wander up to the person's face and he freezes as he sees that the person is looking directly at him. And at the fact that he recognizes them.

"Mingi?", Hongjoong says quietly. He walks into the doorway, confused. He puts the glass bottle down on the counter, but the panic doesn't go away.

"Hello, Hongjoong", Mingi says, eyeing him up.

Hongjoong internally starts panicking a bit more but tries his best to hide it. "H...How did you get in here?"

"Just through a window. You don't mind, do you?"

The Chief shakes his head. "That's breaking and entering, Mingi."

Mingi sighs. "I know. But I just...had to see you."

The Chief nods. "Why? You could have just come back to work. I thought you had to leave for a while."

The unsettling feeling in the back of Hongjoong's head wouldn't go away but he tries to swallow it down. Mingi, however, seems to notice.

"Hongjoong, let's not lie to each other now", he says.

The shorter man blinks in confusion. "Huh?"

"You know about what I am, don't you?", Mingi asks, tilting his head.

Hongjoong plasters on a smile and says, "What are you talking about?"

Mingi inches closer to him and Hongjoong instinctively takes a step back. He realizes he made a mistake however, when Mingi's lip curves up into a slight smirk.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Hongjoong. You seem tense."

Hongjoong finds himself frozen in place as Mingi comes even closer to him. The secretary walks around to stand behind Hongjoong. The human's eyes widen as Mingi disappears from his sight. He halfway expects fangs to sink into his neck when he feels hands grab his arm from behind.

"Is something wrong?", Mingi asks.

"Why did you never tell me you were a vampire?", Hongjoong responds. Mingi inches closer to him, positioning his head next to Hongjoong's.

"See, you do know. I figured you did."

"So what are you wanting with me? To turn me?", Hongjoong asks. The Chief tenses up a bit as he feels the weight of Mingi's head laying on his shoulder.

"I can't turn you so...not exactly", Mingi says.

Hongjoong turns his head slightly. "Then what?"

Mingi sighs before lifting his head. He grabs Hongjoong's shoulders and spins him around, making the other feel winded.

"Hongjoong…", Mingi starts.

The Chief raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I want you to become a vampire and be with me."

Hongjoong's eyes widen considerably as the words sink in. "What?!", he says, louder than intended

Mingi throws his arms around Hongjoong's shoulders in a semi-hug. "Hongjoong, I love you", Mingi says, "And I don't want to live without you. Please."

Hongjoong shakes his head, eyes widening even further. He pushes Mingi's arms off of him. "What are you saying?! You're standing here asking the Chief of the Bureau to become a vampire!"

Mingi looks down softly. "I...I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

The Chief sighs heavily and moves the hair out of his eyes. He looks over Mingi, who seems to be lost in his thoughts.

_"Then why do you sound so mad?" San's words ring in his ears._

_"I don't like to repeat myself."_

_"Or...because you truly do love Kim Hongjoong."_

Mingi's eyes widen. San was right. He was so in love with Hongjoong that he let it cloud his judgement.

"Are you okay, Mingi?", Hongjoong asks softly, bringing the vampire back to reality.

Mingi was silent. He had spent so many years coming up with his plans and he was ruining them because of Hongjoong, who probably didn't even feel the same way about him.

"Mingi?", Hongjoong asks again.

"I can't let anything get in the way of my plans", Mingi says softly, mostly to himself.

Hongjoong tilts his head. "Hm?", he says, confused.

Mingi lifts his head and looks into Hongjoong's eyes. The Chief was taken aback by the different look on Mingi's face. It almost looked...angry.

"What's wrong, Mingi?", Hongjoong asks, trying to hide the slight fear in his voice.

The vampire takes a step towards Hongjoong. The Chief takes a shaky step back. "Mingi, stop, you're scaring me", he says.

Mingi tilts his head and opens his mouth to say something before he hears a crash coming from his kitchen. Hongjoong quickly turns around in response.

"What the hell?", he says. He turns back around to Mingi, the look on his face asking "do you know what's going on?".

Mingi's face changes quickly, going from anger to...amusement?

"He's late", Mingi says.

Hongjoong raises an eyebrow. "Who is...he?"

Mingi smiles, but it wasn't the type of smile that Hongjoong was used to from his secretary. This one had a...sinister undertone to it.

"Meet our clan's newest recruit, Hongjoong", Mingi says, smiling even wider.

There's an even louder crash behind the Chief, who jumps back as he turns around again. The doorway clears to reveal an all too familiar figure.

"Jongho?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, look at me, long ass update and it didn't take a whole month


	17. Footsteps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yunho and Seonghwa discover the truth. Someone lurks in the shadows, which leads to even more problems.

_Yeosang leaves the alleyway after the sun goes down, just to be safe. He makes his way to the Bureau headquarters so that he can let Hongjoong know he was alright, and also so he can talk to Seonghwa._

_As he rushes into the building, he looks around. He knows he looks out of place, only wearing a temporary shirt they gave him and the jeans he had on when he entered the hospital. His shirt had been completely soaked in blood and had been torn up, with the giant gash in the shoulder of it being very prominent. Therefore, he had to accept the thin piece of fabric that they called a shirt._

_But now was not the time to care about fashion. Yeosang shakes his head, knocking the thoughts out of his head._

_He walks towards his own desk, trying to avoid the looks that some of his co-workers were giving him due to his attire. He takes a deep breath in as he catches a glimpse of the familiar blue head that was in the desk next to him._

_"Yunho…", Yeosang called out to his friend._

_The blue-haired male quickly whips his head around at the mention of his name. His eyes widen as he sets his eyes on Yeosang._

_"Yeosang! You're okay!", he calls out. Yunho quickly stands up and throws himself into his friend. He wraps his arms tightly around him in a hug, lifting him off the ground slightly._

_"Yunho, you're squeezing too hard, I still have a slit in my shoulder!", Yeosang loudly whispers as Yunho hugs him tightly._

_The older puts him down gently and smiles. "Sorry."_

_Yeosang sighs and shakes his head. "You're fine. I missed you too."_

_Yunho smiles. "So why are you back so quickly? I heard you were supposed to be discharged today. Don't tell me Chief really put you back on the same day-"_

_"No, he didn't. I actually came to talk to Seonghwa. I was on the phone with him earlier but he hung up on me so I got worried."_

_His friend's expression morphs into one of confusion. "Seonghwa?"_

_"Yeah, Seonghwa. Why the weird face?"_

_Yunho blinks quickly, still confused. "I thought you knew."_

_Yeosang raises an eyebrow. "Knew what?"_

_"Yeosang, Seonghwa resigned."_

In a seemingly pitch black void, a half-vampire sits in a chair, half-asleep.

"Yeosang", a voice calls out to him. Said man stirs, although his eyes remain closed.

A hand meets his cheek violently, finally bringing him back into consciousness. "Wha...what?", Yeosang says.

His vision was blurry, but he was able to make out that someone was standing in front of him. Yeosang groans audibly.

"Who…", he says, his face still pretty numb.

Yeosang heard the person in front of him click his teeth in frustration. "Wake up all the way, Yeosang."

The agent widens his eyes quickly when he recognizes the voice as his own. His vision clears up slowly and he's now able to see that the figure has two blood red eyes.

"Fuck", Yeosang says, "it's you again."

The other Yeosang smiles. "Of course it is. How was your rest?" 

"My...what?", Yeosang says, sitting up in his chair.

"Oh, silly, I let you rest while I took control of your body for a while. You can thank me later."

The memory comes flooding back to Yeosang. He was trapped in his own body while this evil demon version of himself choked Seonghwa half to death.

"Stop this", Yeosang says.

The pink haired Yeosang looks down at him and shrugs. "I can't do that just yet, not until our plans are complete."

"What do you want from me?", Yeosang asks, looking up at his counterpart.

The other smirks and tilts his head down to him. "Oh, Yeosang, I already have everything I could ever want from you. I am you now. I own your memories, your powers, and everyone who you care about. All of it is in my possession now. And as you fade away, I hope you finally realize the power of darkness."

Yeosang's eyes narrow. "You'll never own me. I'll regain myself and then I'll destroy everything you've built."

The pink haired Yeosang chuckles darkly, causing the original to blink and move back a bit. "I don't have to own you, Yeosang. I think you're still not understanding. I _am_ you. You can't escape me as long as you're a vampire. Considering that we're immortal, that's going to be...a very long time."

"Do you never plan to return my body to me?"

The vampire shakes his head. "It's not that I don't plan to. I plan for us to become one entity eventually, you just need to accept me into your mind so that our plans can truly come into fruition."

Yeosang breathes heavily, hanging his head. "Give me my body back. Give me my life back."

The other Yeosang uses two fingers to lift his counterpart's chin up. "It's _our_ life, Yeosang. And until you realize that, you'll never be free."

Yeosang opens his mouth to speak but the other vanishes before he can do anything. The agent tries to stand up but he discovers he doesn't have the strength to do so.

He closes his eyes, trying to call out to any part of his mind that can help him. He wanders into the deepest parts of his memory, trying to get anything that can help him.

When he opens his eyes, he sees someone standing about 5 feet in front of him, startling him. It was a man, from what he could see anyway, although he had no idea who.

The man's eyes were bright red and the bottom half of his face was completely obscured by shadows.

"Hello, Yeosang."

The half-vampire's eyes widen as the person calls out to him. "Who...are you?"

The man looks around the pitch black room a bit. "You've never met me. You only know of me through what Seonghwa and San have told you of me."

Yeosang raises an eyebrow. "What does that mean? What are you?"

"I'm all in your head, Yeosang. But currently, so are you. I'm the only one who reacted to your cry for help. Do you want my help or not?"

"Who even are you?", Yeosang asks, feeling himself get even weaker.

The vampire smiles at the repeated question, making Yeosang a bit uneasy.

"My name is Eden. I'm here to help you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seonghwa walks into the Bureau building with his freshly bleached blonde hair, making his way to his own desk to start taking the serial murder case seriously.

Yunho sits, hunched over his desk, typing away and working on the case as well.

"How's it going, Yunho?", Seonghwa says, running a hand through his locks.

The tech analyst looks away from his computer towards Seonghwa, blinking a few times. "Oh, uh, it's going good. I've been staring at this computer for a while, looking up more details while I wait for the lab results to come back."

Seonghwa nods. "Have you seen Chief?"

"Hongjoong?"

"No, the other Chief", Seonghwa says, playfully rolling his eyes, "Of course I mean Hongjoong."

Yunho clicks his tongue. "No need for the attitude, I've been staring at a screen for hours, I'm not exactly all here right now."

Seonghwa shrugs. "Where's the short man who writes my checks, Yunho?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him all day. He might be cooped up in his office like I am in this cubicle. He has double the workload now since his secretary turned out to be a psychotic bloodsucker, you know?"

"I mean...you're right. I feel bad for him. He's in the same boat as us right now. Someone we care about deeply is in the hands of ATEEZ." The blonde looks over at the wall, getting lost in his own thoughts. It was true, all of them had lost someone to ATEEZ recently.

Yunho sighs. "Difference is Jongho and Yeosang are good people who ended up getting taken by force. Mingi is a crazy bastard who likes seeing people suffer and only pretended to care for Hongjoong in order to get to us."

Seonghwa is pulled out of his thoughts by Yunho's anger-laced statement. "Oh, um...you have a point. San and Mingi are probably planning who knows what in order to take us down. They're most definitely going to use Jongho and Yeosang to do it, too."

Yunho pauses for a sec. "What about Wooyoung?"

"Wooyoung?", Seonghwa asks, raising an eyebrow.

"He's in there too. What happened to him?"

Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows. "Huh. I didn't think about him. I haven't seen him since I tried to get information about Yeosang out of him and he brushed me off. He looked extremely sad and desperate that night. Maybe he finally realized how much of a pawn San sees him as."

"Doubtful", Yunho says, shrugging, "Once people are conditioned to believe a certain way, it's quite difficult to bring them out of that mindset. On one hand, I feel bad for Wooyoung, he probably has no actual say in the matter. However, he tried to kill me and you. Yeosang, as well."

"True…"

"I'm just not sure how we're going to face 3 powerful vampires, and now Yeosang's brainwashed as well so that's 4. Plus, who knows how many are actually in that clan. There could be thousands that we're against."

Seonghwa exhales heavily. "What are we going to do, Yunho? It's literally just us left. One brain, one brawn. Can we make some miracle happen?"

Yunho nods. "We have to. When I see Chief next, we will start working out a plan. This is going to be difficult but...not impossible. We have to get Jongho and Yeosang out of there first."

"Of course. Hopefully we can get some information on their plans too. San better not be using Yeosang to get to me…"

"We should look into San's true identity as well. We have next to no information on who he really is."

Seonghwa tilts his head. "That's a great idea."

"I'll get on that in a bit", Yunho says, "I just want all of this to work out in the end."

"Trust me", Seonghwa says, "Me too."

Yunho shakes his head. "This is crazy, it really is."

Seonghwa hangs his head, closing his eyes. "Goddamn, this shouldn't have ever happened. Yeosang shouldn't be where he is right now. I know he's trapped up in his own head. It's awful."

"Is there something you could have done, Seonghwa?", Yunho asks.

Seonghwa says. "I wish I had stuck around after he had turned so I could have shown him how to use his powers properly. Maybe I could have stopped all this from happening."

Yunho tilts his head, turning back to his computer and beginning to type. "You think you could have stopped his berserker rage?"

"Yeah. I think I could have. But I can't test that theory now because I was stupid and made decisions in the heat of the moment. I left him here to fend for himself as a newly turned in the world of vampires, and I regret every second of it."

"I can understand that. There's no use dwelling on the past now, though. We just have to do everything we can to bring him back and finish this case."

Seonghwa nods. "You're right. We'll get him back, and Jongho, too. Plus my brawn and your brains should be able to help us finally figure out the culprit behind those murders."

Yunho smiles, typing a few more things into the computer before hitting enter. "Speaking of culprits, the DNA samples should be in by now. Are you prepared to finally get some answers behind the case?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen. "You're serious?"

The tech analyst nods, finally locking eyes with the other agent. "Yes. I'm going to go pick them up. Are you ready to see them?"

"Mentally? Not really. Logically and thinking in terms of the case? I have no choice."

Yunho reassuringly puts his hand on Seonghwa's shoulder. "Let's do this, Seonghwa."

The tech analyst stands up out of his chair and walks down the hall towards the lab area, leaving Seonghwa to his own devices for the time being.

_You're the head of the ATEEZ clan now, Seonghwa. You're in control now. What will you do?_

The voice in his head says to him, making him swallow deeply. The voice sounded suspiciously like…

"Eden", Seonghwa says to himself.

 _It always comes back to Eden._ The voice was now his own. The man had not been in his life for over a century now and yet here he was, getting in the way of all his plans for happiness.

 _I bet you wished you could have killed me by your own hand. But giving you that pleasure wouldn't be so fun if you didn't plan to carry my plans out after, would it?_ Eden's voice echoed in his head, quickly followed by a dark chuckle ringing in his ears.

"Shut the fuck up", he says under his breath. Eden was dead, he had nothing to worry about so why were his worries creeping up on him now? Was it because he had learned about his status within ATEEZ or was it something else? Were San's words actually affecting him?

Seonghwa lets out a loud sigh as he lowers his head so he could only see his own shoes. _I'm going to fix everything. Eden be damned. San be damned._

The agent looks over to his right to see a figure coming towards him. He quickly clears his throat and plasters on a slight smile. "Hey, Yunho."

Yunho raises an eyebrow. "Uh, you okay?"

Seonghwa blinks quickly. "Yes, of course, why?"

The tech analyst shrugs. "You just seem tense. Are you afraid of the results?"

"The...results?", Seonghwa says, swallowing between the words.

"The results of the DNA test, duh", Yunho responds.

Seonghwa nods. "Oh...should I be afraid?"

Yunho raises an eyebrow slightly. "Not that I know of. The DNA samples are in this envelope, Seonghwa, if you'd like to take a look at them with me."

The manila envelope in Yunho's hand suddenly catches Seonghwa's eye, causing a lump to form in his throat.

"So this is it, huh? We're gonna find out who was behind all the killings?", Seonghwa says, nodding more than he should.

Yunho shrugs. "Well, that's still a maybe. There's still many scenarios that could have happened. The results could be inconclusive or they could be wrong. We never know."

Seonghwa nods. "I'm ready, Yunho. Open it."

The tech analyst walks a bit closer to his desk before opening the envelope slowly, trying not to tear it at all. Seonghwa was nervous, his head swimming with thoughts of possible culprits. Was one of them even San? What about Wooyoung? Mingi? Even...Yeosang?

The blonde braces himself for whatever is going to come out of that envelope. It could change everything they know about the case.

Yunho pulls out the documents and begins to scan over them. Seonghwa wanted to bite his fingernails but he knew that would make Yunho nervous too, so he kept his hands at his side.

Seonghwa leans over to be able to see better but he isn't exactly an expert in reading lab reports so he waits for Yunho to speak up.

"I see one match so far but I don't recognize the name", Yunho says, shaking his head.

"What's the name?", Seonghwa asks.

Yunho raises an eyebrow before scanning over the paper again. "One of them is a match for a...Kim Yonghwan?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen as the name slips from Yunho's lips. It had to be a joke. Kim Yonghwan...no. There's no way that's the name that the DNA test pulled up. How was he alive? How was he even in the system? How was...any of this real?"

"I have no idea who that is. Seonghwa, do you know?", Yunho asks, shaking his head. He waits for an answer from behind his back but nothing comes.

Confused, Yunho turns around to look at Seonghwa but he sees the man, eyes wide, pale, and looking on the verge of collapse. The tech analyst reaches his arms out to steady his friend, his expression turning into one of concern. "Woah, woah, Seonghwa, are you okay? What's wrong?"

He moves his arms into a position to guide Seonghwa to a chair and sits him down in it. He tries to fan the man with some papers to calm him down.

"Kim...Yonghwan? There's no doubt about it?", Seonghwa finally says.

Yunho blinks and nods, thankful that Seonghwa was finally speaking again. "Yeah, why?"

"Yonghwan...is Eden", Seonghwa says quietly.

The tech analyst catches it however and his eyes widen. "Eden? The vampire you were talking about that turned you? Him?"

Seonghwa nods. "Yes. That's him."

"Are you sure it's the same Yonghwan?", Yunho asks.

"Is there a picture on the file?", Seonghwa asks in return.

Yunho nods. "They printed it so we could track him down."

Seonghwa reaches out for the papers, flipping through until he can find what he's looking for. He continues moving through the pages until it catches his eye. The face of the man that singlehandedly ruined his life.

The papers all fall to the floor slowly, Seonghwa's hands becoming too numb to hold on any longer. Yunho watches as the pages fall, and then back up to Seonghwa's face.

"It's him, huh?", Yunho asks.

Seonghwa nods, face frozen in shock. "He's...not dead. Eden...isn't dead."

Yunho sighs. "Seonghwa-"

The blonde interrupts him. "All this time, I thought he was gone for good. That I would never have to deal with him again. That I was finally free from his hold on me. I'm...I can't."

Yunho watches as Seonghwa throws himself off the wall and walks away from him. The older walks in the direction of the door, and Yunho slowly follows him, not wanting to bother him, only to make sure that he isn't going to do anything stupid.

"Fuck", Seonghwa says loudly as soon as he walks outside. Yunho stays behind him, but staying silent. Seonghwa was clearly angry and he wasn't going to be able to get through to him right now.

Yunho had no idea where Seonghwa was headed to but he assumed it was wherever he thought Eden would be. It would be a bad idea for the two of them to meet right now, so Yunho continues to tag along to make sure it doesn't happen.

They kept walking, completely silent, except for the occasional grunt or angry swear from Seonghwa. Yunho looks around at the surroundings, trying to get an idea for where they were.

There were bushes surrounding the area they were walking through. It seemed like a small apartment building area. It would be so bad if a fight broke out around here. He had to stop Seonghwa...

"Seonghwa, stop!", Yunho says, his hand wrapping around Seonghwa's left forearm.

The older quickly whips his head around, his expression angry. "Don't try and stop me", he says, his eye twitching.

Yunho notices Seonghwa's eyes were bright red and his fangs were peeking out of his mouth. The tech analyst's eyes widen as he quickly shoves the blonde behind a bush with all of his strength.

"What the hell are you doing?", Seonghwa asks, angrily.

"Making sure no one sees your vampire form, asshole", Yunho says in return.

Seonghwa clicks his tongue. "Stay out of my way, I'm going to find Eden and rip his fucking throat out."

Yunho stands there, stance unwavering. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm quite stubborn myself. You're not going anywhere that could have you killed. We need you for this case and we need you to save our friends. You're an agent of the Bureau, not a wild animal. Act like it."

By this point, Yunho was in Seonghwa's face, basically spitting the words at him. The vampire breathes in heavily and then lets it out. "What the fuck ever."

"You know, Seonghwa-", Yunho starts, but he's quickly interrupted by rustling in one of the bushes next to them.

Seonghwa looks behind him at the bush and raises an eyebrow. "I'm not in the mood to be fucking followed right now."

Yunho sighs. "It could just be a squirrel, Seonghwa, don't be so abrasive", he says.

The blonde looks back at Yunho with his red eyes before walking over to the bush the noise came from. "Squirrel my ass."

Seonghwa lifts his hand up and looks down at it before shoving it into the bush.

"Is that necessary, Seonghwa?", Yunho asks.

"Of course it is", Seonghwa says, his hand wrapping around what feels like a human wrist. The blonde grows angrier but he smirks.

Yunho's eyebrows furrow at Seonghwa's expression change. "Hm?"

Seonghwa tightly grips the person's wrist and yanks him out of the bush. Yunho's eyes widen at the prospect of someone actually being in the bush, and of Seonghwa being right about it.

The blonde's angry expression matches the shocked look on the person who he just pulled out. Well, of what he could see anyway, as this man was wearing a mask and hood.

"Who the hell are you and why are you following me?", Seonghwa asks, sternly.

The man tries to pull his wrist away from Seonghwa's grip, but the elder vampire is stronger than he is. He just shakes his head after he fails to escape. This only makes Seonghwa angrier, however.

"I asked you a question, asshole", Seonghwa says loudly, "Are you from ATEEZ? Huh? Those fuckers send you to follow me around?"

The other man is silent as Seonghwa glares at him. Yunho was still confused as to what was happening. Who the hell was this person?

The elder vampire clicks his tongue and lifts his hand up to the man's face. He grabs at his mask and rips it away violently, trying to figure out who he was.

As the mask falls away to reveal who the man following him is, Seonghwa's eyes widen, as do Yunho's. 

"Jongho?!", Seonghwa yells out.

Said male doesn't make eye contact with Seonghwa, choosing to look closer to the ground.

Seonghwa looks the man up from head to toe. "What the fuck, Jongho?"

The younger looked a bit thinner than when he had last seen him, which can only mean that ATEEZ were starving him while he was being held captive. The thought of it made Seonghwa's blood boil. Jongho's cheeks were a little sunken in and it was like someone sucked the life out of his eyes.

Jongho finally looks up at Seonghwa's face. The older could swear that Jongho was about to cry but he knows vampires can't cry unless they teach themselves to.

Yunho takes a step closer to Jongho, having not seen him in so long. "Jongho", Yunho says, softly.

The younger's eyes widen at the sound of his name rolling off of Yunho's tongue. He quietly shifts his eyes over to Yunho, although not moving his head.

A tear rolls down Yunho's cheek as he sets his eyes on Jongho's dead expression. "What did they do to you, Jongho?"

Jongho is silent as Yunho's tears become heavier. Seonghwa looks down at the younger vampire.

"Can't speak or something?", Seonghwa asks, tone a mix of anger and worry.

The younger looks away from Yunho and back down to the ground. "I'm sorry", Jongho says, under his breath.

Seonghwa hears it however, which makes his expression soften up considerably. "Jongho…", he says.

He reaches out to put his hand on the younger's shoulder but before he can, Jongho lifts his own arm up to smack the older's out of the way. Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows at the rejection.

Before Seonghwa can open his mouth however, Jongho shoots his head up to lock eyes with him. Seonghwa stares him down for a second before the younger opens his mouth.

"Protect him", Jongho says, just as quiet as the last thing he said. Once again, only Seonghwa can hear him. Seonghwa begins to form a response, but before he can, Jongho glances over at Yunho. The older swears he sees sadness in Jongho's eyes now when he looks at Yunho. 

Seonghwa realizes what Jongho means and nods. He begins to open his mouth before Jongho turns his head, turning his back to them. As quickly as he appeared, the younger bolts away from them at superhuman speed. He was gone before either Seonghwa or Yunho can react.

The vampire stands there, dumbfounded at the interaction that just happened. He looks over at Yunho, who looked heartbroken.

"What the hell is going on, Seonghwa?", Yunho asks quietly, "Why did he leave?"

Seonghwa sighs, his red eyes slowly turning back to their original color. "I don't know, Yunho. But I intend to find out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung continues throwing darts at the board in front of him. He had pasted a picture of Jongho that he had ripped from the younger's old social media accounts on the board. But if he's honest, he's not sure if that's who he really wants to throw darts at.

He lines his next shot up but can't bring himself to throw it. He looks down at his hand. It's oddly shaky right now.

"What the hell is wrong with me?", he says to himself.

He had been doubting himself for a while now. He didn't know where to direct his hatred at this point. Everything was so numb now. All he wanted was to be accepted again...

"I'm going to prove my worth", he says to himself, "I'm going to kill Choi Jongho."

Wooyoung stops his hand from shaking and throws the dart at the picture, hitting the picture directly in the eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hongjoong didn't tell anyone of what happened with Mingi, some part of him still wanting to believe in the good in his secretary. He had sworn Mingi was going to kidnap him and lock him up somewhere but once Jongho had shown up in his apartment, he had convinced the older to leave Hongjoong alone.

_"What's happening here?", Jongho says as he's walking in, "No one told me we were breaking into Chief's place."_

_Hongjoong stares at Jongho. The young agent had been missing for almost 2 weeks at this point. He was so relieved that he was okay._

_"Jongho", Hongjoong says, "You're okay."_

_He begins to walk towards the younger but is pulled by someone grabbing his arm before he can go any further. He looks up to see Mingi's angry expression._

_"You're coming with us", Mingi says to the shorter._

_Hongjoong's eyes widen. "I'm doing no such thing."_

_"Mingi, what the hell", Jongho pipes up._

_The older vampire looks over to Jongho before going back to Hongjoong. "Come quietly."_

_Jongho shakes his head and holds his hands out. "Dude, no, leave him alone. He's not apart of this."_

_Mingi sighs in frustration. "Are you insisting on getting in my way? You know what we can do to your friends right?"_

_The younger vampire gets visibly angry before quickly calming himself. "That's not what I mean. You're literally just proving that Hongjoong is important to you right now. I figured you didn't actually care, but maybe you do. I don't think San would be so happy to hear about that."_

_Hongjoong's eyebrows furrow. These two were working for San, the man Yeosang and Seonghwa had listed as a primary suspect in the vampire murder case? There's no way…_

_Mingi's eyes widen. "You have no fucking right!", he says, loudly to Jongho._

_"How about we stick to the plan instead of putting your feelings first, then?", Jongho says, tilting his head._

_Hongjoong was so confused by this point. Mingi was proving he cared about him? By kidnapping him? Was Jongho not actually missing and actually went back to who he was truly loyal to? What even was happening anymore?_

_Mingi angrily breathes out. "Fine", he says, gritting his teeth._

_He roughly lets go of Hongjoong's arm, shoving him a bit in the process. He walks towards Jongho, keeping eye contact with him the entire time. He violently pushes past him and back towards the window he came through. Once he was out of Hongjoong's sight, he lets out a loud sigh._

_Jongho looks back at where Mingi brushed shoulders with him then he turns to Hongjoong, who looked so broken and hurt. He turns his heel to walk away before Hongjoong calls out to him._

_"No, wait, Jongho!", he says._

_Jongho turns back slightly to him, signifying that he's listening._

_"What's going on, Jongho? Tell me!", Hongjoong yells out._

_The younger vampire turns all the way back around, away from his boss and shakes his head. "I'm sorry", he says and begins walking back to join Mingi._

Hongjoong shakes his head, trying to push the memory out of his head. Jongho had...protected him? But is he not working with the enemy now? Was he faking? Did he have a plan?

While Hongjoong is lost in his thoughts, his phone rings. The caller ID was Unknown but Hongjoong knew who it was.

He quickly picks up and says, "Hello?"

"Hongjoong. What the hell happened?", the other says.

"It's fine, it's just some of our past actions are coming to haunt us now", Hongjoong responds.

"What do we do now? Everything's going terribly. The plan was to get him out of there."

Hongjoong nods. "I know. I want to help you, but I have people I want to protect, too.

"I just want to keep him safe", the person says.

Hongjoong nods. "I want him safe too. But we can't always control everything. And we can't change the past. All we can do is atone for our sins."

There's a short silence before the person on the other line speaks up again.

"We'll meet soon, Hongjoong. Until then, watch yourself now."

The line clicks without Hongjoong getting a chance to respond. He blinks as he pulls the phone away from his ear.

"Maybe this is the way it was meant to be, after all", he says to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jongho stands at the edge of a rooftop, leaning over the ledge to get a better view of the city at night. The wind blows through his hair as he thinks about what happened earlier today. He hears a noise behind him, a noise of someone's feet landing on the ground. He doesn't even bother looking behind him, knowing that the person was going to come over to him anyway.

"Jongho", a voice behind him says. Footsteps come closer to him. The younger sighs as he looks to his right to see San reaching the edge as well.

"Did I say you could interact with Park Seonghwa or Jeong Yunho?", San says, looking out onto the town.

"Did I say I was going to listen to your orders?", Jongho says in return, turning his head to look at the elder vampire.

San smiles, although Jongho can tell it's very fake, and turns to the younger. "Don't forget what's at stake here, Jongho. You slip up any further and I'll have Jeong Yunho's head on a stick."

Jongho grits his teeth. "It wasn't even on purpose. Seonghwa just has the best hearing I've ever seen on a vampire. I can't sneak shit past him."

The elder vampire raises his hand up to stroke Jongho's cheek. The younger resists every urge in his body to knock San's hand away, knowing it may cause the older to snap and kill Yunho.

"You're finally learning some compliance. Good boy."

Jongho was on the verge of exploding at the point and San knew it too. He knew he had all of the power in this situation and he was reveling in it.

"I think you should learn more about Park Seonghwa in order to properly stay hidden from him", San says.

"And how do I do that?", Jongho says, calming himself a bit.

San smirks. "I've tracked down the person who knows Park Seonghwa better than anyone."

Jongho raises an eyebrow. "Better than Yeosang does?"

The elder nods. "Of course. It might come as a surprise to you, but I've idolized Park Seonghwa since the first time I saw him two centuries ago. But when I saw that he had fallen so far from grace, I knew I had to find the man who started it all."

Jongho is taken aback by the part where San says he idolizes Seonghwa. He swore that the black and red haired vampire hated the agent, but...idolize? A huge shock to the young vampire.

"Oh...oh."

San gestures below them. "If you'd like to follow me, Jongho."

With that, San jumps off the building and into the alleyway on the side of it. Jongho looks down, debating what he should do. He really had no say in what to do anymore, all of his friends' lives were in San's hands and if he decided that Jongho was out of line then...his friends would be gone. Jongho shakes the thought out of his head. He couldn't let that happen. He throws himself off the roof as well and lands on his feet in the alleyway, next to San.

"I'm liking the obedient side of you. It's quite the contrast from your rebellious persona."

San chuckles after he says it, angering Jongho even further. The younger stays silent, however, trying to avoid any problems.

"Follow me", San says. The elder walks out of the alleyway and begins to run at superhuman speed toward the river at the edge of town. Jongho runs as well, struggling a bit to keep up with San's superior speed.

As they approach what Jongho recognizes as the waterfall he used to come to when he was younger, San begins to slow down. Jongho slows as well to match the speed. 

"We're here", San says, coming to a complete stop when he reaches the rocks surrounding the water. 

Jongho looks around, confused as to why they're here. What could possibly be going on this far out of the city?

"Come this way", San says, walking towards the waterfall.

The younger follows behind, a bit scared of what is to come. San walks along the rocks to a spot behind a waterfall. There were water droplets falling around them as they walk into the rock-walled area.

San smirks as he sees what he's looking for. "Over here, Jongho."

It takes Jongho a second to realize what's happening when he goes to stand next to San. In front of them was a man huddled next to a fire. He hears them approaching, however, and quickly stands up to face them.

The man is head to toe in black clothes, although his shoes are torn up from what he can see. He's covering himself with a thin blanket around his shoulder to keep himself warm. He also had a black eyepatch around his left eye. If Jongho had to describe him, he would say that the man looked...homeless.

"Who is this?", Jongho asks.

San smiles. "I told you. He's the one who knows the most about Park Seonghwa out of everyone."

The younger vampire narrows his eyes at the man. "Huh?"

"Jongho, meet Eden."

**Author's Note:**

> :)


End file.
